What If?
by Nee-Nee91
Summary: What if Alice was wrong about her past? She doesn't remember it so she only knows what she researched. What if the information she found wasn't complete? Set 2 years after the events of Breaking Dawn. Will have some elements from the movies incorporated.
1. Unfamiliar

Prologue

My name is Elyse Cullen. I know what you must be thinking. You're thinking that I am related to the Cullen's. Well then you would be right. I will tell you all about that later. First I must tell you how I met them.

Unfamiliar

My family and I were out hunting. We tried to go weekly but because my husband was a lawyer we didn't always get to go together. This was one of the times when we did.

I liked to let our children race ahead of us and then Alex (my husband) and I would race to see who could catch them first.

While our kids raced on ahead, Alex and I stopped at a waterfall.

"Shall we go swimming and see how long it takes them to figure out that we're not chasing them?" Alex asked.

"That sounds intriguing. Why not?" I said.

An hour passed and yet our kids hadn't come looking for us.

"That's strange," I remarked.

"What?"

"The kids haven't come looking."

Then the wind picked up and I caught the scent of vampires. Unfamiliar vampires.


	2. Old Aquaintences

Old Acquaintances

_Elyse POV_

Alex and I raced along until we picked up our children's scents.

"Have you ever come across this scent before?" I asked him.

"No." he replied.

"How do we know that it's not the Volturi, then?" I asked.

"Only one way to find out," he said.

The closer we got, the stronger the scent became. When we got to the point that I could smell our children, I put my hand on Alex's arm.

"Stop. Let's climb up the trees so we can jump them if we have to." I mouthed. He nodded.

As we crept along the tree branches, I started freaking out. What if the kids were dead? I had wanted to raise them so badly that I had become a vampire. Otherwise, our three kids would have grown up without a mother.

"Wait." Alex's voice broke into my thoughts. "They're just up ahead, and I don't think they're Volturi."

I breathed a sigh of relief. And then I saw them. There were two of them. An extremely beautiful blonde and next to her was a very muscular man with dark brown curls. Both were crouching down like they were about to attack the kids. I wasn't close enough to see their eyes so I couldn't tell if they were vegetarians like us or not. I had almost jumped from my perch when Alex put his hand on my arm.

"Elyse, let's wait and see what they do first." Alex mouthed.

"I will not let them hurt the kids!" I mouthed back.

"Neither will I," he said.

As the blonde growled and tried to swipe at my eldest, Alee, I ignored Alex's hand and jumped down from my branch, landing in my hunting crouch, between them

"Don't you dare touch my daughter!" I growled as I tried to swipe at her myself. The muscular male got in between us, growling at me. Alex landed beside me a half second later, also growling.

The blonde was stunned enough to stop growling.

"Your daughter? How is that possible?" she asked, her eyes extremely wary.

"That's none of your concern," I snapped.

Just then a kind-faced blonde vampire with golden eyes entered the clearing.

"Rose, Emmett is everything all right?" he asked.

At the sound of his voice my husband looked up, his growling nothing more than a distant memory.

"Carlisle?" he asked. The blonde male looked at him in surprise. He blinked a couple of times then said, "Alex?"


	3. Surprises

Surprises

_Elyse POV_

"Wait, what? You two know each other?" I asked. Alex sighed and attempted to offer me a smile. It didn't work.

"Oho you are not getting out of this one that easily, buddy. You owe me an explanation. If you know him, why have I never heard his name before?" I told him.

"Alright," Alex pursed his lips.

"Carlisle is my creator," he said.

"Wait, what?" I repeated, only this time the blonde female, Rose, spoke at the same time I did.

"Carlisle, I thought you only created Edward, Esme, me, and Emmett. I didn't know you had created someone else. And if this is the truth, why didn't you stay with us?" She directed that last sentence at my husband.

"I stayed with Carlisle for a little bit. He created me after Esme and obviously before you because I have no idea who you are and you clearly don't know me. I left after a while to try to find my sister."

"Your sister?" I asked. "We have been together for 17 years. Why is this the first time I am hearing that you have a sister?"

"Because I could never find her, no matter how hard I looked. It was almost as if she didn't exist. Besides, by the time I met you, she was long dead so it didn't matter anymore."

"Honey, you could have just told me about her. I would have helped you look for her regardless of the fact that she was dead. You wanted to find her. Finding out what happened to her may not have been the same thing but it still would have brought you some closure."

"I guess you're right," he said.

"Of course I am. I'm always right." I told him.

He laughed and kissed me on the nose.

"Alex, if you don't mind I am sure Esme and Edward would love to see you again. Plus Edward got married two and a half years ago so you could meet his wife as well," Carlisle spoke up.

"Well…"

"We would love to." I interrupted. "But only as long as we can bring our children."

"Of course you can. They are just as welcome as you are," Carlisle replied.

_Alee POV_

I watched the vampires with wary eyes. It is in my nature not to trust vampires. I make an exception for my parents, though they are the only ones. I could hear my siblings shift uneasily behind me. They had fallen behind when the first two unknown vampires approached. I was the unspoken leader. Perhaps it was because I was the oldest, if only by two minutes. Tessa was two minutes younger than me and Nicholas, though he prefers Nick, a minute younger than her. Even as my parents continued to talk to them, I was still wary. There was three of them and five of us. I couldn't imagine my parents siding with them over us. They may be the same species but we are their children. My mother even jumped in front of us to protect us from them. Not that we really needed protection from a couple of vampires. We are werewolves after all.


	4. Introductions

Introductions

_Alee POV_

My siblings and I followed my parents. I wasn't sure where we were going but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a trap. Vampires have been known to do that. Of course there were three of us and I was confident that we could take them. The blonde male, Carlisle, mentioned three more vampires so if it became a fight it would be five against six.

_"Alee, why are you looking for a fight? You don't even know if there will be one. These vampires could be good like mom and dad." _My sister, Tessa thought.I had almost forgotten that as wolves we could hear each other's thoughts. We had only been wolves for a few weeks. It was still taking some getting used to._ "Tess, Mom and Dad are unique. You and Nick were sleeping but I had gotten up to get a glass of water one night and I overheard them talking."_

_"What did they say?"_ Nick piped up.

_"Mom mentioned the Volturi. I'm not exactly sure what that means but based off of their conversation I am pretty sure that they are a powerful group of vampires. And Mom doesn't like them. She was worried about what they would do when they found out that vampires and werewolves were living together. She said they wouldn't care that we were family. We would all be destroyed. Dad told her to relax, that that was a worst case scenario and they probably would never know about us."_

_"So that's why you don't trust other vampires? You're worried that someone will tip off this Volturi? Al, you don't need to worry. Mom and Dad are really good at keeping secrets. It wasn't until we turned out to be werewolves that they told us they were vampires."_ Tessa stopped. She gave me a look that basically said I was being ridiculous.

_Esme POV_

I was in the kitchen, cooking for the wolves, when my cell phone rang. It was Carlisle. After we'd talked for a minute, I hung up and went back to cooking.

"What did Carlisle want, Esme?" Edward asked.

"He just said that he was bringing some guests over and wanted me to be aware."

"Did he say what sort of guests?" Edward looked a little worried. He must have been thinking of Renesmee.

"He didn't but he didn't sound worried. And Ness is never far from his mind. I don't think he would have invited them if he thought that there would be a problem involving her."

Edward sighed. "You're right. He wouldn't have. I should probably warn Bella anyway or she might freak out."

I smiled. Even though Edward couldn't read her mind, he had become pretty good at figuring out how Bella would react. Most of the time anyway.

_Elyse POV_

The entire time we were walking through the woods I just kept thinking about my kids. I knew Nick would be fine with everything. He was just a happy-go-lucky, go-with-the-flow type person. Which was good because his sisters could get pretty intense sometimes and he was great at calming them down. Alee was the more intense of the two girls. Usually Tess or Nick could get through to her. She usually listened to them. After she'd jumped in feet first.

The forest started thinning and then we came upon a house. Well it was more of a mansion, really. It was three stories tall and all white. And standing in front of the house were five vampires.

I could hear Alee growling behind me. I put my hand on Alex's arm to stop him.

"Alex," I whispered. He looked down at me and saw my worried expression.

"Carlisle," he called out. "You didn't tell us about the other two. Or the wolves," he said gesturing his head to the side of the house.

Startled, I looked to where he was gesturing. There were five wolves over there. Alee's growling increased and this time Tessa joined in.

"My apologies," Carlisle replied. "It was not on purpose. Come, let me introduce you."

I gave Alex a look. "At the first sign of trouble…" I warned. He just smiled.

When we got to the edge of the lawn, Carlisle stopped. Rose and Emmett ran to join the others. Carlisle turned toward us. "This is the rest of my family. Alex, you already know Esme and Edward." Carlisle pointed to a woman with shoulder length caramel brown hair and a boy of about seventeen with bronze hair. "You have also already met Rosalie and Emmett." He pointed to the two from earlier. Rose must be a nickname. "And standing next to Edward is his wife, Bella, and then there is Jasper and Alice." Jasper was blonde like Rosalie and he was looking at us cautiously. Alice reminded me of a pixie. She had super short black hair and was standing behind Jasper. At first I thought that she was afraid of us but then I realized that Jasper was the one that was afraid and was doing his best to protect Alice from us. The thought of that made me laugh under my breath.

"What's so funny?" Alex asked.

"They're afraid of us." I replied.

Carlisle turned toward the others. "There is no need to be afraid. They are family."

Esme blinked a couple of times at that statement and then took a step toward us to get a closer look. "Alex?" she asked. "Is it really you?"


	5. Explanations

Explanations

_Alex POV_

"Yes, Esme. It's me."

She rushed at me and gave me a huge hug. "You have to stay. You can't leave again. Promise me you won't leave again!" she said.

"Esme, I…"

"We can stay. I don't see why not. Living near my family is not an option and I don't see why we couldn't stay here for at least a little while," my wife said.

There was no way she could have known that that was exactly what I needed to hear. I had been wanting to find the Cullens for a long time. I just didn't know how to tell Elyse or where to begin looking. This was one of the many reasons I had fallen in love with her. She seemed to be able to tell what I was thinking or at least what I wanted. I had entertained the thought that maybe she would be a mind reader like Edward once she became a vampire but that proved false. Which was just fine. She loves surprises and if she was a mind reader I'd never be able to surprise her. Granted there is always the option of thinking of something else but she'd have me figured out in a second. So it really is a good thing.

"Why is living near your family not an option?" Edward's wife, Bella, asked.

"Well for starters, they live in Arizona. Too much sun. Plus the fact that they're human," my wife responded.

They all nodded. Vampires and sunlight do not mix.

"The wolves would like to know how, and why, you have three wolves with you," Edward asked.

"Oh, well, they're our children," my wife replied.

"What do you mean?" asked Esme.

"Exactly what I said. They're our children. Alex's adopted and my biological children." Elyse replied.

"How is that possible?" Carlisle asked. Edward and Bella shared an unreadable look.

"What do you mean? I thought you were a doctor which means you should know perfectly well how it's possible." Elyse told him with a smile.

"No," he said with a chuckle. "I meant how are they wolves. You are obviously not a wolf."

"And you would be right. But in order to explain everything I need to tell you my story."


	6. Stories

Stories

_Elyse POV_

"Alex and I met in 1990. He was working on a tough case and needed some help. I had studied Criminal Justice in school and had a job as a Paralegal at his firm. After that first case he asked if I wanted to be his Paralegal full-time. I was looking for full-time work so I said yes. I didn't know how much that decision would affect the rest of my life. After a while we started dating. I am a very curious person by nature. You might say that curiosity is my fatal flaw. Anyway about six months after we started dating I figured out what he was. I had always known something was different about him. It just took me a little bit to figure it out. It scared me so I dumped him and ran."

At this point in my story Edward gave Bella a look and she just rolled her eyes. I figured that that was the reaction he had been expecting from her and based off her response that wasn't the reaction she had.

"I was in the middle of packing my things when he showed up on my doorstep. I grabbed a wooden rolling pin, thinking that I could stake him if necessary, and opened the door. He had an amused smile on his face when he saw the rolling pin but he didn't say anything about it."

"I just asked if I could come in. You asked if I was going to kill you."

"I did, didn't I? You chuckled and said no, that you didn't kill humans. I remember giving you a puzzled look and asking how you survived because you need to drink blood. That was when you told me that you drank animal blood because you hated the thought of killing humans. You also said that you still cared about me and wanted to try to make our relationship work. I told you I needed a few days to figure things out. You said that was fine and that you needed to go hunting anyway. After two weeks of thinking and avoiding you at the same time I decided to try again. I figured that if you hadn't killed me yet then the odds were in my favor that you weren't going to. After another two months we were engaged. Three months after that we were married. That was in January of '91. By March I was thinking about kids. I had always wanted them. But then you dropped a bombshell on me. You told me that because you were forever frozen at 28 you couldn't ever have kids. However before I could get too upset you offered a solution."

"I knew you would want kids and because I couldn't give that to you I started thinking of other options from the moment that you said you'd marry me."

"And I am forever grateful for that," I told him, smiling. "The solution you offered was a fertility clinic. You had even thought ahead and set up an appointment for the both of us. I asked what reason you were planning on giving the doctors and you said not to worry. You would explain that you had had cancer at a young age and though you had survived, your ability to father children had not. You even had medical records to prove it. I guess that shouldn't have surprised me but it did. Anyway, I was lucky. After only one round of in-vitro fertilization I was pregnant. It was four months later that we discovered that it was triplets, though. Everything was going fine until September 7, 1991."

_Alex POV_

I hated hearing this story. Because every time I heard it I kept thinking, _What if I had been a minute later? What if he had been two inches closer? _I never would have forgiven myself if the outcome had been different.

_Elyse POV_

"My doctor had put me on bed rest and like the good little girl I am not, I ignored him. I at least stayed home from work, though. I was six months pregnant with triplets so I was huge. Alex had to go hunting but he promised he wouldn't go far."

"I shouldn't have gone. If I had just waited….." Alex said.

"You needed to hunt and you knew it. You had already put it off for far too long." I told him.

"But…"

"Shhh." I interrupted him, putting my finger to his lips to quiet him. "Now let me finish my story."

"Yeah let her finish." Emmett burst in. "I want to know what happened next."

The others nodded in agreement. Even Alee and Tessa had calmed down.

"Ok, Ok. Sorry." Alex smiled.

"Alex had a client that had been convicted. He'd done the best he could but in the end it didn't matter. The man went to jail on minor robbery charges. That was right around the time I discovered that I was pregnant. He served five months then got out early for good behavior. We didn't know it but during those five months, he was planning. He was going to get his revenge on the lawyer that didn't get him acquitted."

"I don't think I like where this is going." Esme interjected.

I offered her a grim smile. "He planned to come to our house and kill my husband while I watched. But that's not what happened. While Alex was hunting, I straightened up the house. I got bored being stuck at home so Alex planned some surprise. I never got to find out what it was though. While I was doing the dishes (a chore I absolutely despise, by the way) I heard someone come in. Thinking it was Alex, I called out that I was in the kitchen. Out of nowhere there was a knife at my throat. I dropped the dish I was holding, causing it to break. I didn't know who had come in or what they wanted. 'Where is your husband?' the intruder demanded. I told him he was running errands and would be back any minute. 'I don't believe you. He's probably out partying or whatever it is he does instead of defending clients like he's supposed to.' That was when I knew it was Robert, the client that was convicted. It wasn't because he was the only of Alex's clients that had gotten convicted, he was just the most recent. He was so full of anger that he didn't notice when I grabbed a piece of the broken plate. Alex came in as Robert was dragging me to the living room. 'What perfect timing,' Robert exclaimed. 'What's going on?' Alex asked. He noticed the broken plate in my hand. 'I am going to kill your wife then I am going to kill you. I was going to do it the other way around but I think this is better. You know it's your fault. I wouldn't be here if you had just gotten me off like you were supposed to.' 'You know the jury convicted you. I did my best to get you off. I always do my best.' 'Yeah right', Robert scoffed. While they were talking I was doing my best to signal to Alex that I was going to try to cut Robert so I could get free. He never once looked at me."

"I was trying to make Robert feel like he was in control."

"I know that now. I didn't then. So since Alex wouldn't look at me I waited until Robert shifted just enough to move the knife. Once he did, I cut him with the broken plate. He swore at me. Alex made his move then but just before he could get to us, Robert plunged the knife into my left shoulder. I fell to the ground and felt a tear in my stomach. Alex grabbed Robert and dislocated both of his shoulders."

"Why didn't you just kill him?" Emmett asked. "He would've killed your wife."

"I don't like the thought of killing anyone. That's why I stuck with the vegetarian diet even after I left Carlisle."

"After Robert was incapacitated, Alex rushed to me. I don't remember much after that because I was in and out of consciousness. I do remember telling him how sorry I was over and over and then asking him to change me. After he had saved our babies."

"Carlisle had trained me a little bit in the medical field but not much about delivering babies. I knew that I would need warm blankets, towels and something to tie off the umbilical cords with. Also I knew that I would need a scalpel. I still had the one Carlisle had given me all those years ago."

"I gave that to you as a gift when you showed some interest in the medical field."

"And I will be forever grateful for that. So I gathered my supplies and did the best I could to deliver my children. The whole time I was listening to Elyse's heart hoping that I could be quick enough to change her. Her heart started slowing so I did something slightly stupid. I bit Elyse's neck in between delivering the first two babies. There were so many things that could have gone wrong. And yet, they didn't. After delivering the second baby, I called 911 and told them that my wife had been stabbed and the intruder was still there. I also said that my wife was six months pregnant with triplets but that I had managed to deliver two of the babies. The 911 operator seemed surprised but then I told her I had some medical training. She stayed on the phone with me until the paramedics showed up. By that time I had delivered the last baby and Elyse was far enough into the transformation that I could lie and say she was dead. The police showed up to arrest Robert and I told them that I did not want him charged with murder because she didn't die from the stab wound. I told them she died from falling and hitting her head. I knew she wouldn't really die so I didn't want him charged with a crime he didn't commit. The paramedics took my children to the hospital and said that they would need to be checked out because they were premature and had been delivered at home. They would call once I could visit them. That was fine with me because I was not going to leave Elyse just yet. The next day the hospital called saying that it would be at least a week before I could see our babies. When Elyse woke up the first she said was, 'Did you save them?' I told her I did but that they were at the hospital and I wouldn't be able to see them for a week."

"I asked why I couldn't see them and you said it was because everyone thought I was dead. That surprised me until you explained what happened. I believe that I also asked what day it was."

"You did. I told you that it was September 10th."

"Which meant that I officially became a vampire on what would have been my 26th birthday."

"And then I took you hunting." He smiled.

"After 3 months you brought our babies home. Before that you wanted to test my control. To test my control you kept bringing something home from work that had a humans scent. You had to restrain me a couple of times, but after a month I was doing pretty well with my control. We were both confident that I would be fine. But you were still cautious so you only introduced one baby at a time. Eventually everything was fine."

"So in the end it all worked out. I just have one question though. How are your kid's werewolves?" Edward asked.

"Oh now there's the best part. But I think they should tell you." I replied. I turned to Alee. "Did you want to go turn back?" She nodded and nudged her siblings, then she stopped. She padded up to me and pulled on my shirt with her teeth then looked down at herself. "Oh, right. Sorry hon. Just a sec." I turned toward Esme.

"Do you by chance have any clothes? We didn't expect to be coming here so they didn't bring any clothes. They usually change back at our house which is a couple hundred miles away. We live just outside of Seattle." I explained.

"Oh we have tons of clothes. What kind did you want?" asked Alice.

"Well umm," I turned to my kids. "Did all of you want to change or just Al?" They looked at each other, then Alee signaled that it would be just her. "Okay then. Alice, Al is the only one."

"Ok, Jasper did you want to find something for him to wear?"

I chuckled. "Alice I should have clarified. Al is short for Alee. She is my daughter."

That last remark caused all of the wolves on the side of the house to look up, startled.


	7. Revelations

Revelations

_Leah POV_

_Did the leech just say what I think she said?_ I asked. _Because I am pretty sure she just said that the reddish black wolf is a girl._

_You heard the same thing I did, Leah. _My brother, Seth replied._ I guess you're not the only female wolf anymore. Why do you think we can't hear them though? Do you think that they'll get to choose their pack or are they going to be relegated to Sam's?_

_I don't know Seth. I will offer them the choice. Maybe Alee will be able to shed some light on all of this. Clearly their mother is not a Quileute._ Jacob responded.

_Didn't their mom say something about a fertility clinic? Does that mean that one of our dads went to a fertility clinic?_ Quil asked.

_I don't know any more than you guys do. We'll just have to wait and hear their side of the story. Embry, is Ness alright?_ Jake asked.

_She's fine. She keeps showing me you though._

_Well until we know whether or not we can trust these new visitors, she'll have to stay back there with you._

_Alee POV_

After Alice brought me some clothes, I grabbed them and went into the trees to change. I had no idea how I was going to explain. I didn't even know what they wanted to hear. They had wolves with them so maybe they could explain this whole thing better than I could. They were all looking at me expectantly, like I was going to reveal the answer to some big conspiracy.

"I don't know what you want me to say. My siblings and I have only been wolves for a few weeks."

"They want to know how old you are," The bronze haired vampire asked.

"What are you a mind reader or something?" I asked. I knew my parents had gifts, but I thought that they were unique.

"That's exactly what I am. Our coven is very talented. My brother, Jasper, can influence emotions. My sister, Alice can see the future. And of course my wife, Bella, is the most talented of all. She is a shield."

"A shield?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"I can stop any kind of mental attack." Bella spoke up.

"Mental attack?"

"For example Edward can't read my mind, but Alice can see my future because that has to do with my physical well-being."

"Ok. That kind of makes sense." I said. "Alright, so my siblings and I were fighting one day. What do you expect? We're sixteen, for crying out loud. I can't even remember what we were fighting about. It was probably some trivial thing that doesn't even matter. Mom used to say we inherited her anger issues." I said with a slight smile. "The only thing I remember is that we were arguing and then Nick went to his room, slamming the door, and Tess went to the attic. I went outside to the woods. They were part of our backyard. I tried calming myself down but I couldn't. The next thing I knew I was a giant wolf. I freaked. I had no clue what was going on or if I was even awake. I tried pinching myself but when I realized I had claws instead of fingers I realized I couldn't be dreaming. Then I looked in Nick's window and saw that he was a wolf as well. His fur was a beautiful shade of black. He put his paws on his windowsill and looked at me as if to say, 'What just happened?' I thought I was just interpreting his looks really well until I realized that I could actually hear his thoughts and he could hear mine. I remember looking up at the attic window wondering if the same thing had happened to Tess and when I saw her snout I knew it had."

"Wait, you mean to say that one of these wolves is your sister?" Edward asked.

"That is exactly what I am saying. Is that a problem?"

Edward glanced at the wolves. The huge russet brown wolf looked back at him and shook its head no. That is if you can say a giant wolf can shake its head no at all. If these other wolves were anything like us then I knew they could.

"So you have explained when you became wolves, but you still haven't explained how you are wolves." Bella said.

"Well that is because that is our part of the story," my mom interjected, indicating my dad as well. "The day our children transformed Alex and I were hunting. When we got home I walked into the living room and our children were nowhere to be seen. I thought that was kind of odd but because of the woods in the back I didn't think much of it."

"And then I walked in and smelled the worst stench I had ever smelled in my entire life." My dad said with a slight smile. "Elyse and I had no clue what it was so we decided to investigate. I walked toward Nick's room while she walked up to the attic. As I got closer to Nick's room the smell got stronger. As I got even closer this feeling of dread came over me and I started imagining the worst. I was trying to prepare myself for Nick being dead on the floor. Or missing with enough blood loss to know he wouldn't last long. What I wasn't prepared for was walking into my son's room and finding a cowering black wolf with white socks. It took me a little bit but I finally realized that the stench was the wolf. I had no idea how it had gotten in our house. I didn't even know that wolves could get that big. The only sign of Nick I could find was his shredded clothes. As I followed the trail of clothes I saw that they led right to the wolf. 'Are you Nick?' I asked. Then I laughed at myself for even thinking that the wolf could understand me. It was only when it looked right at me and moved its head in what appeared to be a nod that I realized two things. One this wolf could indeed understand me, and two, this wolf was my son. I had Nick follow me to the living room where I found Elyse and a white wolf who I was told was Tessa. Alee was at the door outside. She had come up when she heard us come in."

"Once the kids changed back, and we got them some clothes we tried to piece together what happened. Apparently they were arguing and when they went their separate ways too cool off, they couldn't. They just kept getting angrier and angrier. And then they became wolves. The best Alex and I can figure is that their biological dad was a werewolf and my kids got stuck with the gene. I guess I should have figured that if vampires were real then werewolves had to be. You can't really have one without the other. That would be like having yin but no yang."

Edward looked at the russet wolf again. He must have been reading his mind. I wonder if he could read my mind.

"Yes I can," he said. "And yes I was reading Jacob's mind. He wants to know when you and your siblings change."

"We are working on getting better control of it but we almost always change when we get angry."

Edward nodded, as did the rest of the vampires. I was confused. They clearly knew more about this than me and I was the werewolf for crying out loud!

"Elyse, your kids are not werewolves," Edward said to my mom.

My parents blinked.

"Pretty sure we are," I said.

"No, you are not. You are shape-shifters."

"What is that?" my mom asked.

"Until two years ago, the distinction didn't matter. I still think it doesn't. But that all depends on who you are talking to. A shape-shifter is someone that belongs to the Quileute tribe. They are descended from the original shape shifter. If the werewolf gene becomes active, they will change. This is called phasing. While they are still phasing they are immortal. Usually there are only three wolves at a time. Currently however, there are twenty including you three. They are split into two packs. Jacob here is the Alpha of the Black Pack, so named because his last name is Black. And the Alpha of the other is…"

"Me."

Everyone turned toward the voice of the newcomer.


	8. More Questions Than Answers

More Questions than Answers

_Tess POV_

The newcomer was tall and handsome. He had short black hair and was very muscular. He had what looked like a tribal tattoo on his right shoulder. Even though he was very attractive I kept feeling this weird pull toward the other wolves.

_You feel it too?_ Nick asked. _The pull? I've felt it since we walked into the clearing. Or well I guess you can call it a yard. What do you think it means?_

_Nick, I have no idea. Maybe it's because we're the same species as them. I really wish Alee would change back so we knew if she felt the pull as well._

_Tess, she's the older one. She opted to be the one to change because Mom and Dad will protect her if necessary. In our wolf forms, we can handle ourselves._

_She's only older by two minutes! _I snapped._ Nick tried to be the voice of reason but sometimes he was just irritating. He was too happy all the time. Always trying to make the best of it._

_I didn't know you felt that way Tess. I'm sorry._

Crap! Ugh! Now look at me. I had gone and offended my only brother. Why did I always do that?! Sometimes I was just so upset that I spoke, or in this case thought, without thinking.

_I am the one that's sorry Nick. What I thought was uncalled for. I'm just frustrated by all these new things that have been revealed._

_It's alright Tess. Besides, I think Edward knows the newcomer._

_Edward's the redhead?_

_Yep_.

As the newcomer walked closer, Edward started to speak.

_Edward POV_

"Sam what are you doing here?" I asked. Sam hadn't been to our house since the day he had delivered the note from Alice saying she and Jasper were leaving us forever two years ago. At the time we didn't know it was a ruse. Of course that had been hers and Jasper's plan all along.

"I smelled the new vampires. And the wolves," he replied. "Paul said he could hear their thoughts."

_Edward, let Sam know I intend to offer the newbies a choice. Obviously their parents have ties to you guys and if Sam forces the young ones to go with him, they will be separated from their parents. And I am pretty sure that would end badly for all parties involved._ Jacob told me. Sometimes, like now, it really was a gift that I could read minds. Other times it was just annoying.

"What did you come here for Sam?" Bella asked. She had never been too fond of him.

"I came to collect the three new members of my pack."

"Collect?" Elyse asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes. I am the Alpha of the main wolf pack. Our job is to protect the people of our tribe as well as the humans of Forks. Since Paul could hear their thoughts, they belong to me and my pack."

"We don't belong to anyone!" Alee spat. "Least of all you!"

All of the wolves gathered growled in response.

_Edward, try to get through to him. Remind him what happened last time he tried to force someone to do what he wanted._ Jacob told me.

"Sam…" I started but he cut me off.

"Edward nothing you say will change my mind. These three are coming with me. The packs were never meant to be separated. Jacob messed all that up when he decided that he was too good for us and left. I could have overlooked that but then he somehow managed to coerce Seth, Leah, Quil and Embry to join him. Now we can't fight as efficiently against the likes of you!"

At his words Elyse stepped protectively in front of Alee and leaned into her hunting crouch. Alex stepped next to Nick and Tessa. Being in their wolf forms they didn't need as much protection as Alee.

"Do. Not. Even. Think. About. Touching. My. Children." Elyse growled as she said each word.

"You know what? I do not care what kind of sick and twisted relationship you think you have over these wolves but it ends today. I came here to free them from whatever servitude you have them bound in. They are no longer you slaves." Sam replied.

"You think I treat them as slaves?! How dare you!" By this point Elyse was shaking with rage. I didn't think it would be long before she tore into Sam. And based off of the looks Jacob was throwing my way, I didn't think he would try to stop her unless she went to bite him.

"You will leave now and never return. Otherwise you will not like what happens next." Alex spoke up.

_Edward, I am going to phase back. Ness doesn't need my protection right now. It's Sam I'm worried about._ Jacob told me. Because he left, he didn't see what happened next.

_Nessie POV_

I hadn't seen a vampire so angry since my mom had tried to attack Jacob when she found out he imprinted on me. No one in my family even got that angry when the Volturi came a few months after that. Or at least if they did I didn't see it. Elyse was downright pissed off that Sam wanted to take her children. As Sam made a move toward Alee, Elyse growled even louder and Sam went flying backwards and smashed into a tree fifty feet away... Everyone stared in shock, except Elyse. Grandpa looked like he either wanted to help Sam but at the same time he looked as if Sam had gotten what he deserved. He didn't like seeing people get hurt but at the same time he didn't like people trying to force others to bend to their will. Like when Aunt Alice saw the Volturi forcing her to join them and Grandpa and Uncle Jasper died because of it. Of course Aro was able to foresee that his choice would also result in his death so he didn't force Aunt Alice to go with him. Which is good because I can't imagine life without Aunt Alice.

While I was dwelling on my thoughts and memories Jacob had come back and Sam had gotten up and he looked angrier than I had ever seen him.

_Jacob POV_

As I came around the corner of the house I saw Sam on the ground fifty feet from where he'd been standing when I left. He started to get up and he looked pissed. As he started toward Elyse, I dashed toward the Cullen's trying to get there first. I succeeded.

"Sam stop! I don't know what just happened but you don't want to start something that the rest of your pack will have to finish. You told me the same thing once. Remember? I wanted to kill Edward the night of his wedding? Do you remember that?"

Sam stopped. "Yes I remember. But she attacked me first!" he yelled, pointing toward Elyse. Now I really felt out of the loop.

"Ok what happened while I was phasing back? When I left you were standing there arguing and when I got back, you were on the ground over there against the trees."

"I don't know! All of a sudden I was here then there was this huge force shoving me back and I hit the tree. She had a smug look on her face so I assumed she had something to do with it," he said, again pointing to Elyse.

"Let me get this straight. You were standing here then there was a force pushing you back and when you got up she had a smug look so you think she had something to do with it? Sam do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?"

"It was me," Elyse said very quietly.


	9. What Just Happened?

What Just Happened?

_Jacob POV_

"Wait, what? You threw Sam against the trees? How? Why?" I asked.

"Why?!" Elyse asked incredulously. "He was going to take my children away from me! I will never let that happen," she said as a dark look passed over her face. "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to explain this so soon. Not that I wouldn't have told you," she said hurriedly. She paused before continuing. "I have a force field like ability."

Everyone in the yard looked stunned, except for her husband and her kids.

"Wait a minute. What do you mean?" Esme asked.

"I can create a physical barrier to protect me and also push it away from myself. I can control it with my mind or my hands and have recently learned to be able to switch back and forth between the two rather quickly."

"Awesome!" Emmett exclaimed. I rolled my eyes. Anything physical was entertaining to him. Hmm, if she had a physical barrier, I wonder if that would make her stronger than Emmett. That would be a fun thing to see.

"Alright, now that we've taken care of that, there are a couple more things to discuss. Sam, I don't know why you acted so hastily today. Care to explain? I've seen you upset and demanding, but I have never seen you try to take someone away from their family." I looked at Sam, hoping he would find a way to dig himself out of the whole he had dug. He just hung his head.

_Jasper POV_

The guilt came off of Sam in waves. In all my years as a vampire I had never felt such guilt from one person. What had been him feeling justified was now guilt. I was honestly surprised he didn't buckle under the weight of emotion.

"I am so sorry. I didn't think this through very well. Can you please forgive me?" Sam kept looking at feet though he looked up at the last part. At his last remark all eyes turned to Elyse. She sighed.

"I will forgive you on one condition. You tell me why you tried to force my children to join you and you swear never to do it against their will again."

"Mom, that's two conditions." Alee told her, with a slight smile on her face. Elyse just growled.

"Alright. This morning Paul came to me and said that he had heard some new wolves. When he had gone to investigate he saw three wolves and two vampires headed toward the Cullen's. I told him that they were probably heading to Jacob's pack but that later on today I would go introduce myself so that I could get a feel for their intentions. Paul was satisfied, for once, and he left. A few minutes later Jared came running up and gave me this note." He handed a note to Carlisle. As he read it to himself a look of astonishment mixed with worry crossed his face.

"Please read it aloud, Carlisle." Bella asked. "We don't all have Edward's mind reading ability."

Carlisle looked at Sam and at his slight nod; he read the note to the rest of us.

_Alpha, If you EVER side with the_

_Traitorous Cullen's again your entire village_

_Will be slaughtered while you watch._

Everyone was silent. I don't think anyone knew what to think. I sure didn't.

"Does this mean that the Volturi are coming back?" Rosalie asked the question that no one else was brave enough to.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'coming back'?" Alex asked.

The whole yard went silent.


	10. Renesmee

Renesmee

_Alice POV_

I really don't think anyone knew exactly how to answer Alex. If no one else said anything soon though I was going to. Unfortunately I couldn't see who would speak first because of the wolves. I could occasionally see the wolves, like the first time the Volturi had come, but not always. Carlisle said I needed to figure what it was that made it so I could see them then and when I saw that Nessie would be around forever. If it had just been the one time then I would've figured that my trigger was the fact that our family was in danger. But since it wasn't, I had to keep trying to figure it out. It was a lot harder than I thought. I was pulled out of my thoughts by Edward clearing his throat.

"Two years ago the Volturi came here because they had been told a lie. Or at least that is what we originally thought when Alice first saw them in a vision."

Alex sucked in a breath. "What lie had they been told?"

"They had been told that we had created an Immortal Child."

"Who would have told them that? And why? Is there someone with a grudge against you? Edward I don't understand this. The Volturi have never attacked without a cause before. Or at least not that I have known."

"What exactly do you mean, 'not that you have known'? Alex did you stay with the Volturi for a time?" Carlisle asked.

"Heck no! I would never do that!" he exclaimed. He hesitated before continuing. "Like Elyse, I also have a unique ability. I can see the past of any person or object so long as I have touched them at least once."

My interest was piqued at that point. Did that mean that he could tell me more of my history than I had been able to research in Biloxi? Oh I hoped so! No matter what anyone had told me, I still wanted to know my history no matter how bad it may have been.

"So what happened? Clearly the Volturi did not destroy you or we wouldn't be standing here. Well I guess my family and I could be standing here, but you guys wouldn't be." Elyse said with a slight smile. She had a good sense of humor. I could already tell that if they stayed we'd be good friends.

"No they did not destroy us. They weren't entirely happy about leaving us alive but they did. Had it not been for Bella and Alice, they probably would have destroyed us," Edward said.

"What did they do? How exactly does seeing the future and being a shield stop the Volturi? They have some of the most powerful members in their Guard that I have ever seen," said Alex.

"Alex, I'm confused. I thought you said that you had never met the Volturi. And yet you just stated that you have experience with the Guard's abilities. Please explain what you mean," Carlisle said.

"Well it's actually very simple. Some of the vampires that I met while I was …umm… after I had left you had had a couple of run-ins with the Volturi. Most were nomads that the Volturi seemed to have left alone for one reason or another. Anyway, as soon as I touched them I could see their history. Once I have touched someone, and as long as I am in close proximity to that person I can always see their history. All of it from the time they were born to the present time. A few of them had encountered the Volturi and in viewing their history I could see some of the abilities of the Volturi in action. After those instances I vowed to never get on the Volturi's bad side. Some of those abilities are truly frightening. Now that I have cleared that up, would someone care to answer my question from earlier?"

"I already explained that I can block mental attacks. Those include Jane and Alec's abilities as well as Aro's, Demetri's and Chelsea's." Bella was the first to speak up. I really should be the one to explain my gift and how it helped us two years ago, I just wasn't sure how. There was something frighteningly familiar about Alex's face though. I just couldn't figure it out. But, I guess it was time to stop dwelling and start explaining. Here goes nothing.

"Because Aro can see every thought someone has had with one touch he could see a vision I had. My visions are subjective. I can see the course someone is on unless or until they change their mind. Aro has been determined to add me to his "collection" ever since he first saw my ability. It is my belief that he was, and most likely still is, trying to find some law that we had broken so he could force me to join them. Now of course he wants Bella as well."

"I can see why anyone would be afraid of you, Bella. Your gift is very formidable. Can you shield others? Or is it limited to only yourself?" Alex asked. He sounded very intrigued, which would have worried me except that I somehow just knew that I could trust him with my life. I don't know how I could possibly know that, seeing as I have never met the man before. Oh well. For now, I think I'll stay on my guard. His wife seems nice, though.

"I can shield others. It took me a little bit to figure out how, but with the help of Kate and Zafrina, I was able to learn how to project."

"Wait, they taught you at the same time? I can understand Kate being here. She and her sisters are like family. But since when do the Amazons leave the Amazon?" Alex seemed really confused now. I guess we weren't doing such a good job of explaining the almost fight.

"Ok, let's backpedal a little bit. I met Bella three years ago. She had just moved from Phoenix to live with her dad, who happens to be the Chief of Police. As a human, Bella was very accident prone and a danger magnet. Shortly after we met, a tracker caught her scent and tried to kill her. Luckily we were able to kill him but that left his mate extremely angry. She created an army of newborns to kill us to avenge her mate's death. With help from the wolves we were able to kill all of them, including the creator. Two months after that, Bella &amp; I were married. And a month after that, she became a vampire."

"Impressive. But I get the sense that you're not telling us everything. For instance, how did the Volturi first find out about Alice?" Elyse commented.

Edward didn't seem like he wanted to tell about how stupid he'd been after Bella got hurt on her birthday. I was just about to say something when Bella spoke up.

"On my eighteenth birthday, I got a paper cut. A deep paper cut. I used to think those weren't a big deal. Until I got one in a houseful of vampires. Edward did say that I was a danger magnet." She paused and looked to Jasper, who gave her a nod, then continued. "Jasper has a harder time with the vegetarian diet and so when I cut my finger, Edward overreacted a little and pushed me into a glass table which only served to cut my arm even worse than my finger was. So after that, Edward got it into his head that I would be better off without him or anyone else in the Cullen family. So he forced them all to move. And he tried to get me to believe that he didn't love me anymore. Which totally wasn't true. Anyway, a few months later, I foolishly decided to go cliff jumping. I had seen some of the wolves do it in human form and I had become an adrenaline junkie so I thought it looked like fun. I didn't account on the storm."

"Luckily I was there to pull you out of the water." Jacob spoke up.

"Yes, Jacob you were. Anyway Alice had seen a vision of me jumping off the cliff and mistakenly thought I was trying to commit suicide. That was the message that got to Edward and that was why he decided to go to the Volturi to be killed. Instead of killing him, they wanted him to join them. He wouldn't do it and planned to try to force their hand."

"I, however, had seen a vision of Edward and the Volturi and, after finding out that Bella was indeed alive, headed off to Volterra to stop him with Bella coming along. Together we were able to leave in peace, but only after promising Aro that Bella would indeed become a vampire. While there though, Aro tried to read Bella's mind and had Jane tried to attack her all to no avail. He almost fed on her but I decided at that minute to change Bella myself. My plan was to make a decision that would cause me to see a vision of Bella as a vampire in hopes that Aro would leave her alone. Well it worked but now he wants me to join them. Which leads to the rest of the story."

"This all happened prior to the attack of the newborn army. After Edward &amp; I were married, we went to Isle Esme for our honeymoon."

"What's Isle Esme?" Elyse asked.

"Isle Esme was a gift from Carlisle to Esme many years ago," Alex explained. "It's an island off the coast of Brazil."

"Wow," Elyse was clearly impressed.

"Anyway, so while on our honeymoon I discovered something." At this point Bella paused and looked over to where the wolves were at. With a subtle nod the wolves parted, revealing Nessie who was clinging to Embry's leg. She looked a little frightened until she saw her mom motioning to her. She darted forward and grabbed onto Bella. She cautiously peeked around Bella at our newcomers. "Ness, this is Alex and Elyse and their children."

"I know, Mom. I could hear everything you guys have been saying. It's about time you introduced me."

There was a little bit of chuckling at that. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Renesmee was only two. Especially when she looked like a twelve year old.

"So you discovered Ness on the island? Where were her parents?" Alee spoke for the first time in a long time.

"Actually I discovered that I was pregnant with Renesmee on the island."

"Wait. You said that about two years ago you became a vampire. And now you would have us believe that this child is your daughter? I may have my moments of stupidity but even I can clearly see that she is at least ten years old. What, does she have an accelerated growth rate or something?" Elyse exclaimed.

"Actually yes. She is my daughter, and Edward is her father. It was an extremely scary month for us. I almost died. Anyway, I was out with Ness and Jacob one day when Irina came to apologize. See she had fallen in love with a vampire, whose name was Laurent, and was part of a coven with the tracker that tried to kill me. As a "favor" to the trackers mate, he was came to see whether or not I was still under the "protection" of the Cullen's so she could figure out when the best time to kill me was. Well this was around the same time that Jacob joined Sam's pack and they were hunting Victoria and Laurent. They managed to kill Laurent before he could kill me. Ever since then Irina had blamed me and the rest of the Cullen's for his death. Because of this, the Denali's refused to come help us fight against Victoria's newborn army. Eventually Tanya convinced Irina to come apologize. Only when she did, she saw Ness from far away and assumed that she was an Immortal Child."

"She didn't!" Alex whispered softly.

"Unfortunately, instead of coming to talk to us, she went straight to the Volturi."

Alex exhaled. "Why didn't you try to contact us? We would have stood by your side!"

"Alex calm down. First off, we had no clue where you were at or if you were even still alive. Secondly, two years ago Renesmee looked more like an Immortal Child than she does now. Also, if it hadn't been for Alice, we all probably wouldn't be here." Carlisle spoke up in an effort to calm Alex.

"I'm sorry. Please continue, Bella."

"Just after Christmas, they came. We had managed to gather some witnesses, including the rest of the Denali coven to stand by our side as well as the wolves. The Volturi had more. Once they realized that they could not prove the accusation against Ness, Caius had Irina killed."

"Why?"

"She had "falsely accused" us. Really I think it was because he wanted a fight and saw that the only way he would get one was to murder Irina. He thought that Tanya and Kate wouldn't be able to help attacking at that point. He was almost right. They did try to attack but we were able to stop them in time."

"It was at this point that I showed Aro a vision I had had. It showed him forcing me to stay with them. Carlisle then tried to get them to let me go and Aro killed him for it. Then the fight the Volturi wanted so bad started. Jasper was killed as were Seth and Leah." I pointed Seth and Leah out at this point, realizing that they hadn't been properly introduced. "Those killed on the Volturi side were Caius, Jane, Alec, Demetri, Marcus, all the wives and their guards, a bunch of their witnesses and Aro himself. Basically my vision showed that as long as Aro tried to force me to go with them, he would die."

"Well there's no way he could stand for that." Alex broke in.

"Which is exactly why he changed his mind. At least for now. I still believe that he is trying to find a way to get all of us that are talented. He is so power-hungry."

"If the Volturi are going to come back then we can't stay here! Mom, please, can we go home?" Alee, who until now was totally calm, became almost hysterical at this point.

"Alee what has gotten into you? Your father and I need to talk about it, but we may be staying here for some time."

"NO!" Alee screamed then, without warning, she spun on her heal and ran off. Elyse started to go after her but Alex put his hand on her arm.

"Elyse, let her cool off. You always used to tell me that the best thing for you when you were angry was to let you cool off for a bit. She is a lot like you."

"I know. I just don't want her to run away."

"Even if she does, we'll find her. It won't be like last time. I promise."

_Alee POV_

How could they do this? Dad understands how dangerous the Volturi are. Why would they want to court danger by staying here? I've been in a dangerous situation before and I almost didn't survive. If it hadn't been for that trucker, I would probably be dead. I just want to live my life away from danger. I thought Mom would understand. Dad's right when she says I'm a lot like her. I just wish we thought the same. Then maybe she'd understand.

_Unknown POV_

She's finally alone. She's so stupid to go off on her own. Clearly she didn't learn her lesson from before. I've just been biding my time. Watching and waiting. It's what I'm good at. I know just what I'm going to do and she won't even be able to call for mommy. Not if she wants to live that is.


	11. Whoa -- Part 1

Whoa—Part 1

_Alice POV_

"You're going to stay?!" I asked. Oh please say yes!

"Well, Elyse and I need to discuss it, but there's a strong possibility," Alex said.

"Yay! Maybe I'll finally have a shopping buddy besides Rose!"

"Shopping?" Elyse asked with a wary look.

"Please don't tell me that you're like Bella and hate shopping."

"I never said that I hate shopping," Bella spoke up.

"Bella, you didn't have to. Your face always says it for you."

There was a bit of chuckling after I said that.

_Two hours later_

_Tess POV_

While I get why Dad told Mom to give Alee her space, I still felt like Nick or I should've followed her. Just to make sure nothing happened like last time. I still blamed myself.

_Tess it wasn't you're fault. Mom and Dad didn't even see it coming. _

_Yeah but the police said he'd hurt previous girls but got away with it. With Dads gift he should have been able to see all of that._

_I don't think Doug ever let Dad touch him. Which is probably why Dad never saw anything._

_What do you mean he didn't "let" Dad touch him?_

_Well he'd never shake hands with him. It's almost as if..._

_Almost as if he knew Dad was a vampire with a gift to see the past? Nick do you realize what this means?_

_Ummm no. Should I?_

_Ugh! Which one's the mind reader? I want to phase back. You should too._

_Esme POV_

"How come Alee hasn't come back yet? It's been two hours."

"Sometimes it takes her awhile to calm down and process. I was actually just about to go after her. Or send Tess or Nick. She's usually not gone so long."

Elyse looked like she was about to say something else when someone burst through the door.

"Tess! What's the matter? Where's Nick?"

_Alee POV_

Part of me was hoping my mom would follow me. But a bigger part of me was glad that she didn't. I needed some alone time. Yeah I shouldn't have freaked out. I don't even know that much about the Volturi. I guess I just have some left over anger and anxiety from...what was that? I turned my head toward where I thought a sound had come from, but there was nothing there. Clam down that was nothing, I chided myself. Even though it was months ago, I was still a little jumpy. Mom said that was normal. These were the times when I just needed to take calming deep breaths.

_Unknown POV_

She is so lost in thought. I almost revealed myself when that branch broke. Luckily I was able to hide quickly and she didn't see me. Ooo I can't wait to see the look on her face right before….

_Alex POV_

"What do you mean, 'I think Doug is a vampire'?"

"Exactly that, Dad. Think about it. Doug was very quiet about his past. And he never let you touch him. Almost as if he knew what you were and knew about your gift. Dad if I'm right, we have to go after Alee. She's still vulnerable."

"Just because Doug was quiet about his past doesn't make him a vampire. I need something a little more solid than that Tess. I think you're jumping to conclusions here."

"I am not jumping to conclusions! Look every time I joined Alee and Doug on a date, he never ate. He'd push his food around to make it look like his was eating, but he'd never take a bite. We haven't heard from him in eight months, not since that night and I think he's been plotting and planning because Alee got away from though heaven only knows how."

"Tess you need to calm down. Alee is fine. She'll be back just like she always is," Elyse said in an effort to calm Tess. It didn't work.

"Fine! If you won't believe me I'll go after Alee myself!"

"Tessa Michelle Cullen, you will do no such thing! I will not have you going after her like that! You need to calm down because if Alee sees you all worked up then she's going to freak out. She's fine. I'll prove it to you. Did Alice come back from hunting, yet?" Elyse asked turning to look at Esme.

_Jasper POV_

I had just taken down a small herd of deer when I looked up to check on Alice's progress. She had grabbed a mountain lion but she hadn't finished him. Instead she had stopped and had the glazed look on her face that I had come to recognize as her seeing a vision. I waited until the vision had passed, and she had finished her meal before asking her, "What is it, honey? Is everything all right?"

She bit her lip before replying, "I think so. It was just flashes. One of Elyse asking Esme if I was back yet, one of Alee by the river, and one that worries me." As she told me about it, I grabbed her hand. "We need to get back to the house. Now."

_Carlisle POV_

I was in my office when Alice and Jasper came in.

"How was your hunt?" I asked. Surprisingly, there was some blood on Alice's sleeve. That wasn't like her at all. Something must have happened. She may treat clothes as if they only need to be worn one time, but she's an experienced hunter that doesn't make a mess.

"What happened?"

"I had a vision. Well it was flashes really. It was blurry, and I think that was because it was about the wolves. I couldn't see much, just that there was a fight. It was bad. There was a lot of blood and there was a vampire, who I didn't recognize, and he was stabbing Alee with something."

I got up from my desk. "Alice, where does this take place?"

She swallowed. "By the river, which, by the way, is where Alee is at right now."

I took a minute to think. "Alright, here's the plan."

_Rosalie POV_

I was reading the latest Car and Driver magazine, only half listening to Elyse and Esme's conversation. Emmett was out playing catch with Ness and who knew where the wolves had wandered off to. Not that I really cared. The less they were in the house, the more likely we could keep the smell out. Of course, if Elyse and Alex stayed, that most likely meant more wolves. I rolled my eyes at the thought. Maybe, not likely, I could get used to the smell. Course, even if I was used to it, that still didn't mean I had to like it.

"Alice is upstairs. But, Elyse, there's something you need to know first. Alice can't always see the wolves."

"But I thought she said she foresaw that fight with the Volturi? The wolves were involved in that."

Esme paused, as if trying to weigh her words.

Edward looked up from the floor where he and Bella were playing chess. Edward was actually losing for once. Bella had been practicing.

"Alice doesn't know why she saw them that one time. With Carlisle's help, she's been trying to find a possible trigger to her visions. She still misses things, but she's getting better."

"So what you're saying is if Tess is right and Alee is in trouble, Alice may not see it at all?"

Elyse rubbed her face and closed her eyes, then turned to Alex.

"Hun, what's the likelihood that Tess is right about Doug? Could he be a vampire? And does he still pose a threat to Alee?"

"I just don't know. Tess is right about one thing though. He never let me touch him."

_Emmett POV_

Bella had asked me to keep Ness entertained for a bit, so I was playing catch with her on the lawn. I don't know why she wanted me keeping her entertained. It's not like she and Edward were doing anything interesting. Course, ever since I lost that arm wrestling match, I couldn't vocally comment on any of that. No matter how much I wanted to. Jacob normally played catch with Ness, but he had gone back to the tribe with Sam to make sure that everyone knew about the newcomers. And I think Sam wanted to talk privately with Jacob. Anyone could tell that he felt bad for his actions on the lawn earlier. I understood where he was coming from though. He was just trying to protect his family. The other wolves were off patrolling. At least I think they were.

"Uncle Emmett. Do you think the visitors will stay? And are they our cousins like the Denali's?"

"You ask a lot of questions sometimes, Ness." I said with a smile. She must not have caught my smile because her face fell. With her lip trembling she replied, "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be a nuisance. I think that umm I'll go see what Leah's doing." As she turned away a tear fell softly down her cheek.

"Hey, hey now. There's no need for tears. Ness I was teasing. There is no such thing as to many questions. Never let anyone tell you that. If you have a question, ask it. Always, alright?"

She sniffled. "Alright Uncle Emmett." After that we went back to playing catch until Jacob came back.

As soon as Ness saw him, she dropped her mitt and ran over to him.

"Hey, did Alee ever come back?" he asked. Ness shook her head. "Nope. But her siblings were over there till Edward brought them some clothes. Then they phased and ran into the house. I don't know why. Do you want to play catch with us? Mom told Uncle Emmett to keep me busy. She thinks I can't hear her, but I can." Jacob and I chuckled but Jacob's laugh seemed a little hollow, like he was only half paying attention. He kept looking at the house like he was torn between going there and staying with Ness.

"Do you want to go see what's going on?" I asked him.

He didn't even have to think about it. "Yeah, I do. Let's go. Ness you want a piggyback ride?"

She nodded and hopped up on Jacob's back.

_Jacob POV_

Emmett and I, with Nessie on my back, ran to the house. I was extremely curious as to what was going on. I had the rest of my pack patrolling, just in case we had any surprise visitors. I don't know about the Cullen's, but I totally believed that that note was from the Volturi. Or at least someone super loyal to them. So loyal that they'd risk their life to put that note right smack dab in the middle of wolf territory. I shuddered. I wasn't taking any chances and neither was Sam. We were going to have at least two wolves on patrol at all times from each pack for the foreseeable future. It wasn't too different from before. Whoever had left that note, I had never smelled him (or her) before but I would definitely recognize the scent again. I also still needed to talk to Leah, Seth and Embry about some things. Privately.

_Bella POV_

I looked toward the door as soon as Jacob, Ness and Emmett walked in the door. Ness's eyes were slightly red rimmed and I made a mental note to ask Emmett about that later. They walked in at the same time that Tess mentioned Doug, whoever he was.

"Who's Doug?" Jacob was pretty good at getting straight to the point.

Elyse and Alex shared a look before Elyse said, "He's Alee's ex-boyfriend. We thought he was gone for good. Especially after I couldn't find him eight months ago."

"I didn't know you tried to find him. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were a little busy, Alex. You had a trial; Tess and Nick were in school, Alee was in the hospital and if I didn't do something I felt like I was going to implode. The police had no leads so I thought I'd try and help them out a bit. I struck out though. It was like he had vanished from off the face of the Earth." She absentmindedly twirled a lock of her hair as she was speaking.

"Why was Alee in the hospital?" Since everyone was watching Elyse as she spoke, no one noticed that Seth, Leah, Quil and Embry were standing in the back doorway. Well technically Leah was leaning against the deck railing, but still. Elyse seemed a little reluctant to answer Seth's question. After a minute though, she sighed and said, "It was eight months ago, but Alee met Doug about two months before that. She called it love at first sight. I chuckled a little when I told her that it's always love at first sight when you're a teenager. She nudged me…..

_**8 months ago**_

_**Elyse POV**_

**"Ha ha mom. Of course you would say that. Don't worry. We're just going to a movie and dinner."**

**"I guess that's alright," I said with a smile. Her eyes lit up.**

**"Thanks mom!"**

**"Be back by midnight!" I called after her as she raced out the door.**

_**The next day**_

**Alex came in from the garage. He had spent the night working on something. I didn't know what it was but I had a pretty good feeling it was a birthday present for me seeing as my birthday was next week. He walked up behind me and put his arms around my waist. I leaned back against him as he put a kiss on my head. "Making breakfast for the kids?" he asked.**

**"Of course," I replied. "My specialties, cinnamon roll waffles, and waffle hash browns. Along with bacon, of course."**

**"Of course. You miss that, don't you?"**

**"Bacon? Sometimes. But I'd rather be here with you than eat bacon any day. Did you want to go hunting later?"**

**"Sure. How far?"**

**"Oh just where our noses take us."**

**Luckily, Tess didn't hear that last remark when she walked in. She was too busy texting.**

**"Morning honey. Where are your brother and sister?" I asked.**

**"Alee's getting up and Nick was in the shower."**

**"Thanks hon."**

**She went back to texting after that.**

**"Who're texting, Tess?" I asked.**

**It took her a few seconds to answer. "What?" she asked. "Sorry. It was Ben. He wants to get together tonight. I was thinking of maybe doubling with Alee and Doug."**

**"Oh that would be fun. But what would we do? Doug and I went to a movie last night so I don't really want to do that again. We could always go mini golfing. Or bowling, or even for a walk in the woods."**

**Alee started throwing out ideas as she walked into the dining room.**

**"Eat first. Plan later." I said. My girls were such typical teenagers. At least I never had to worry too much about them. **

**The girls were already eating when Nick came in. ****"What's for breakfast?" he asked. "Did you make your specialty breakfast, Mom?"**

**"Of course. What else would I make on a Saturday morning?"**

**"She has a point, little brother."**

**"Al, I'm only three minutes younger than you. And I'm not littler than you and you know it."**

**It was true. In the last little while, Nick had gotten taller than the girls. I had always figured that would happen. He was taller than me but as I was only 5'3" that wasn't hard to do. Heck, the girls had been taller than me for a couple of months. Come to think of it, they'd all gotten taller and more muscular in the last few months. Hmmm. I wonder why I hadn't noticed it before. Out of nowhere a piece of bacon hit me squarely on the nose.**

**"Hey! Just what was that for?"**

**"Well you weren't answering my question," Tess replied.**

**"And what was your question?" I replied.**

**"I asked if it was Ok for Alee and I to go out with Doug and Ben tonight. We'll be back by curfew. Promise."**

**I shared a look with Alex. Thoughts of the earlier promised hunt kept intruding, which meant that I needed to find a way to get my kids out of the house so they wouldn't start asking questions. **

**"Sure. So long as you're home by curfew."**

**After that we went back to eating. Well Alex and I went back to pushing our food around. I had a sinking feeling that we wouldn't be able to keep up the charade too much longer. Oh well. We'd cross that bridge when we came to it.**

**"Hey umm, would it be alright if I join you?" Nick asked.**

**"Does Nicky-poo have a date?"**

**"Alee!" I said sharply. "Don't tease your brother like that!"**

**"Sorry, Nick," she said sheepishly.**

**"It's ok. And for the record, yes I have a date. With Lily."**

**"As in Ben's sister? I didn't know you liked her."**

**"Well she's pretty and she's funny. Plus she said yes...what's so funny?"**

**"Nothing," Tess said with a smile. "It's just, it's about time you asked her out. Dude she's had a crush on you for like ever."**

**After breakfast, Nick cleaned up while the girls got ready. They were going to go to the mall along with Lily to buy some stuff for tonight. Honestly, I have no idea where they got their love for shopping. Certainly not from me. Unless it was a bookstore, or I needed clothes, I wouldn't be caught dead in a mall.**


	12. Whoa -- Part 2

Whoa—Part 2

_**Alex POV**_

**As soon as Nick was done with the dishes, he came out to the garage. The project I'd been working on was his idea, but he didn't always get to help me on it. What with him being in school, he often had homework that he had to do. We were "strict" parents that made their kids do their homework before having any fun.**

**"Hey Dad, I can't help you anymore today. I've got a paper due Wednesday and I want to work on it before my date tonight. That way I won't have to do as much later."**

**"That's alright. Your mom wanted to go for a run anyway." We had long since come to the conclusion that telling our kids half-truths was better than out right lying. It was much easier that way.**

**"Just don't paint it without me," he said as he walked back into the house.**

**I smiled. Elyse was going to be so surprised. There was no way she would've gotten this when she was human, but now that she was quite a bit more indestructible, she'd love and enjoy it a lot more.**

_**Tess POV**_

**I did my makeup while Alee was in the shower. It would be interesting to double date. I had only gone out with Ben a couple of times so I didn't consider him my boyfriend. Alee has been dating Doug for a few months. Who knows, they could be high school sweethearts. Except that Doug doesn't go to high school. I wonder if Mom and Dad know that. Come to think of it, I wonder if Alee even knows that I know that.**

**"Tess, you okay?" Alee asked me, as she stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her head and her bathrobe on.**

**"Huh? Yeah I'm fine. Why?"**

**"I don't know, maybe because you were about to poke yourself in the eye with your mascara."**

**I looked down, and promptly poked myself in the eye. Alee laughed. It was kind of funny, except for the mascara on my eyeball.**

_**Elyse POV**_

**I watched my girls come down the stairs. Alee had done her hair up in a high ponytail and then twisted a piece of hair around the ponytail holder to hide it. Her hair swayed as she walked. Tess had put her hair in a side braid, with the braid hanging over her shoulder. My girls looked similar but they were not identical. Alee had black hair with red highlights and Tess had red hair like me. Alee's black hair must have come from her biological father. Nick had black hair as well. Both my girls had long hair that reached all the way down their waists. **

**"You alright there, Mom?" Tess asked.**

**I shook my head. "What? Yeah I'm alright. Why?"**

**"Oh I don't know. Maybe because you looked a little dazed?" she responded.**

**"I was just marveling at how beautiful you two are." I said.**

**Alee snorted. "Yeah right. More like you were admiring our long hair."**

**I smiled sheepishly. "You caught me. I like long hair but at the same time I like my short hair too." My hair wasn't actually that short. It brushed the top of my shoulders but my girls' hair was longer. When Alee's hair was down, it reached almost to her bottom. Tessa's wasn't quite that long, but it was getting close. Thankfully, Nick kept his hair short.**

**"So what's the plan for tonight?" I asked.**

**"Doug and Ben are picking us up, and Nick is picking up Lily. Then we're going to meet up at Olive Garden. And after that, we were going to go for a walk in the woods."**

**I raised my eyebrows. "A walk in the woods? You two? Well alright then."**

**"What are you and Dad going to do?" Tess asked.**

**"Probably go for a run."**

**"Didn't you already do that?" Alee asked.**

**"No. Your dad was doing something in the garage and so we decided that we would just go while you kids were out. I wish I knew what he was working on. You two know what it is!" I exclaimed, catching the look they shared.**

**"Sorry Mom. We've been sworn to secrecy," they said in unison.**

**I growled in frustration.**

_**Alee POV**_

**After dinner, Doug and Ben took us to this campsite that they had rented for the night. It had this really cool alcove that made it seem like we were in our own world, completely blocked off from anyone. Tess doesn't impress easily, but I could tell she was impressed. I loved it. It was a great way to end the summer. Technically school had already started but it was still summer for a couple more weeks. The boys had set up a little campfire for us to make s'mores with.**

**"Where did you guys hide all of this stuff?" I asked.**

**"In the back of Ben's truck," Doug answered.**

_**Elyse POV**_

**After the kids were gone, Alex and I headed out for our weekly hunt.** **It was his turn to decide the general area of our hunt. When it was my turn I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the woods around me. Alex would sometimes do that. Most of the time, though, he would take a whiff and then point in a general direction. His favorite thing to hunt was mountain lions. Mine was grizzly bears. When I actually stop to think about what I'm doing, I have to laugh at myself. As a human, I didn't like blood. I didn't make me sick or gross me out, I just didn't like it. Blood belongs in the body, not out of it. And yet as a vampire, it doesn't bother me that I have to drink blood to survive.**

**"We should go north. I overheard some campers mention that their food had been gotten into by some wildlife."**

**I scoffed. "Humans need to be aware of what animals are around and bring containers to store their food. My parents always did. Humans have lost some common sense in this new age."**

**"True. But at least we know that there might be a problem animal around."**

**My eyes lit up as I smiled. "Let's go."**

_**Nick POV**_

**Part of me wished that Doug and Ben had let me on their little secret. Course my sisters were really good at being able to wheedle secrets out of me. Especially if it involved them. So maybe it was a good thing that they hadn't told me. After they got the fire started, we started telling ghost stories. The story Doug told started to take on a really dark theme that made me uncomfortable. Lily kept scooting closer to me so I could tell she wasn't liking it either. Just as I was about to try to change the subject, Tess fell off of the log she was sitting on. I thought that was her dramatic way of changing the subject until she didn't get back up and she didn't respond to anyone's calls to her. Ben got down next to her to shake her and as soon as he touched her he pulled his hand back.**

**"Guys, she's burning up. We need to get her home, now," he said.**

**"I'll take her," I said. "Come on Alee."**

**Alee moved to help me pick up Tess, but Doug stopped her. "Ben why don't you help Nick get her home? Alee can help me clean up here."**

**Something about the way he said that had me feeling uneasy, but Alee waved me away.**

**"I'll be home soon," she promised.**

_**Alex POV**_

**"Feel better?"**

**"I always feel better after a hunt," I told her. I don't even think she was mad that she only got one animal when I got three. Of course her bear was a heck of a lot bigger than my deer. Plus I didn't really want to fight her for the grizzly. She spotted it first, so she could have it.**

**"Shall we go back?" she asked.**

**I took her hand in mine and we started running back home.**

_**Alee POV**_

**The way Doug had talked to Ben made me a little uneasy. I had waved Nick away because he needed to get Tess home. I had never felt like this around Doug before, so I didn't know what brought it on. It wasn't like he had hurt Tess or caused her to get sick. He wasn't that close to her tonight. Maybe he was just taking advantage of the situation. Whatever his reasoning behind it, I had to get home fast. Something was wrong with Tess, and I intended to find out what.**

**"Alee, come here."**

**I turned toward Doug. As I walked over to him, he put his hands around my waist. I looked up at him and said,** **"I'm worried about Tess. Can you take me home now?"**

**"In a second. Thanks for helping me clean up."**

**Without any warning, he tried to kiss me. I pushed him away, or I tried to anyway. He seemed to think my resistance was just me being playful. It wasn't.**

**"Stop! I want you to take me home, and I want it to be now!"**

**"Well I want to kiss you. And since it's my car, we are going to do what I say."**

**"NO!" I screamed. With a burst of strength I didn't know I possessed, I pushed Doug away and turned and ran as fast as I could. I was almost to the road when he was all of sudden in front of me. I gasped and he grabbed me around the throat.**

**"Don't run away from me again."**

**I kicked him hard and felt my ankle pop. I screamed. He chuckled and threw me to the ground. I didn't know what he had planned but I wasn't going to let him hurt me without a fight. I felt around for something to hit him with. As he got closer, I found a tree branch and pulled. It didn't budge. I pulled harder. He punched me in the face.**

**"Stop fighting, Alee. I always get what I want."**

**Just because he told me to stop, I fought harder. I kept pulling on the branch and it finally came loose. I thrust it as hard as I could and hit him in the face. He reared back and then hit me over and over again. He hit me so much and so hard I blacked out.**

_**Paul POV**_

**Rachel and I were out on a date in Seattle when I caught the whiff of a vampire. I weighed my options. I could either ignore it or I could go after it. For all I knew, it was a Cullen that was just hunting up here.**

**"Honey, are you all right?"**

**I looked over at my wife. I took a deep breath, already knowing what I was going to do.**

**"I'm sorry. I have to take care of something. Hopefully it won't take too long."**

**She looked at me knowingly. "Is it pack stuff?" she asked quietly. I nodded.**

**"Then what are you waiting for? Go. I'll still be here when you get back."**

**I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and ran toward the vampire. As I got closer to the stench, I could already tell that it wasn't a Cullen. I found a place to phase without being seen and moved even closer. What I saw made my blood run cold. A vampire was beating up a human girl. She was holding her own though. At least until he hit her so much that she blacked out. That was when I sprang forward and knocked him out of the way. He looked toward me, startled. As he started for the girl again, I leaped in front of her and stood protectively over her. He came at me again, and I leaped at him, biting off his arm. He roared and tried to hit me. I dodged and bit off his other hand and knocked him back. When he didn't get up right away, I turned to the girl. She was beaten badly. I grabbed onto her shirt and started pulling her to the road. Luckily she wasn't that far. When I got to the road, I saw headlights coming around the corner. Because I didn't want to expose myself as a wolf, but I wanted to save the girl, I had a choice to make. So I did the less stupid one. I darted in front of the truck and forced him to swerve away from the girl. Then I ran into the woods and waited to see what the trucker would do. When I saw that he was walking toward the girl, I ran off to get my clothes and rejoined my wife.**

_**Trucker POV**_

**I had been driving all night and I was getting tired. I knew I should have gotten off the road at that last truck stop, but something made me think I could keep going. Maybe it was because I had gotten a late start and knew I needed to make up time. I don't know. Whatever it was, it didn't really matter. All I knew was one moment, I'm drifting and trying to keep my eyes open, and the next I'm swerving my big rig to avoid hitting what looked like a huge wolf. I must have been more tired than I thought, cause I know God didn't make wolves that big. I grabbed my shotgun and got out to investigate just what had run in front of my truck. There was something by the side of the road so I headed in that direction. As I got closer I realized that it wasn't an animal but a girl. She was beaten badly and she wasn't moving. I was a little afraid to touch her, but I had to know if she was alive or not. I carefully set my gun down, and checked her for a pulse. She had one but it was very weak. I grabbed my phone and dialed 911.**

_**Third Person POV**_

**Two doctors and a nurse were waiting when the ambulance pulled up.**

**"What have we got?" Dr. White, the Chief Resident, asked.**

**"Teenage girl, found on the side of the road. She's got several broken bones, and a possible collapsed lung," the paramedic, Vicky, responded.**

**"Let's get her in to Trauma One. And get the OR down here," Dr. Ramirez said to Becky, the nurse.**

**As they began working on the girl, it became clear that she had internal bleeding. They worked as hard as they could to get her stable so she could go to the OR, but it didn't seem to be working.**

**"She's crashing! Someone get the crash cart!"**

_**Alee POV**_

**I felt like I was floating. The last thing I remembered was Doug beating me. Now I just felt free. **_**Am I in heaven? **_**I focused a little bit more on my surroundings expecting to see the forest. But I didn't. Instead I saw what looked like a hospital. **_**How did I get here? What happened to Doug?**_** When I could see more clearly I realized I was in a hospital. But I still couldn't figure out why I was floating. Until I looked down and realized that there was a body on the table in front of me. When I looked closer I realized that it was my body. **_**Wait, am I dead? **__**Does this mean that Doug killed me? What about my family? I don't have any ID so how will they know who I am? I don't want to be dead! I have so much to live for!**_

_**Elyse POV**_

**"Has Alee come home yet?" I asked Nick, after heading into the living room.**

**"No. How's Tess doing?"**

**"I can't seem to get her fever to break. Your dad said that he was going to try to get ahold of a friend. If he can find him."**

**I checked my watch. "Where is she? It's been two hours since you came home. Didn't you say that she said she'd be home soon?"**

**Nick didn't get a chance to respond because there was a knock on the front door. He got up to answer it.**

**"Hello. Can I help you?"**

**I could smell two people. "Are your parents' home?" I heard one ask. I didn't like the sound of this so I went to the door. There stood two police officers. My lip quivered. I definitely did not want to hear what they were going to say. Alex must have smelled them to because he came in from the garage and stood next to me, gripping my arm.**

**"What can we help you with, Officers?"**

**The officers exchanged nervous looks. Clearly, they recognized my husband as the high profile defense attorney he had become. I don't know if they were afraid of my husband, or if they were just afraid to tell us whatever it was that they were here to tell us.**

**"I am so sorry to have to tell you this. About an hour ago your daughter was brought into the ER. She was found beaten and bruised. The doctors did everything they could, but it wasn't enough. I am so sorry."**

**No spoke for a few minutes.**

**"So you're saying that my sister is d...dead? What about Doug? Was he the one that k...killed her, or was he hurt as well?"**

**"Your sister was the only one brought in. Our department is doing everything it can to find out who did this to her. I am so sorry."**

**As they were walking away, I heard one of them mutter to the other one, "I hate doing these calls. Does it ever get any easier?"**

**"No. And I don't think it's supposed to."**

_**Alex POV**_

**As soon as the police left, Elyse was tugging on my arm.**

**"Let's go. We need to go!"**

**Instead of letting her pull me toward the car, I grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. After a few seconds, I reached out and grabbed Nick, pulling him into our little circle. We all stood there for about ten minutes before Nick pulled away.**

**"Mom's right. You need to go. I'll stay here with Tess." As he walked away, I could see the tears streaming down his face.**

_**Nurse Becky POV**_

**I sighed as I sat down at the nurse's station.**

**"Long day?" Tammi asked. She was the desk attendant for the ER.**

**"No it's not that. We lost the teenager. I hate it when we lose patients, especially kids. It's just not fair."**

**Tammi came over and gave me a hug.**

**"I am so sorry. This is why I never wanted to be a nurse let alone a doctor. I honestly don't know how you guys handle losing patients and then coming back every single day. I couldn't do it. Hence why I am going to school to be a teacher."**

**We both looked up at the sound of the door opening. There were two people at the door. Both were extremely pale and beautiful. By the way they were holding each other they were clearly husband and wife. The wife was trembling and seemed to be held up only by her husband. Tammi and I exchanged a look.**

**"Can I help you?" she asked.**

**"Um, our daughter was brought here. The police…" he couldn't finish.**

**"If I can just have you wait here, I will go find the doctor," I said.**

**The man led his wife to our waiting room as I went to find Dr. White.**

_**Dr. White POV**_

**I was headed to the front desk when Becky grabbed me.**

**"Dr. White, the teenager's parents are here. I figured that you should be the one to tell them."**

**"Actually, the police already told them. Why don't you go get her cleaned up? No one should have to see their child like that."**

**She nodded and walked into the trauma room. I heard a gasp and then she was running out the door.**

**"Doctor! She's alive!"**

_**Elyse POV**_

**I couldn't stand the wait any longer. I already knew that my daughter was gone. Why weren't they letting us see her? What was the point of all this waiting?**

**"It's going to be alright. We can get through this. Just so long as we stick together," Alex whispered in my ear. I looked up at him.**

**"You can't possibly think that I would leave you. We will stick together. This is just so hard. I hate the waiting. We already know what happened. Why do we still have to wait?"**

**Before he could answer me, we saw a couple of doctors and nurses running down the hall. I figured some patient was coding or something. All I cared about was being able to take my daughter home and make her funeral arrangements. Not that I actually wanted to make those arrangements, but because of Doug, I didn't have a choice. I laid my head on Alex's shoulder and closed my eyes. It was times like this when I wished I could still cry. Crying was a way for me to release the inner pain I was feeling. Sleeping helped too. Of course I couldn't do that either.**

**"Elyse, we will get through this. It will be tough for a while, but we will get through it."**

**I sighed. "I know. But that doesn't mean I….."**

**"Pardon me for interrupting, but are you here for the teenage girl that was brought in a couple of hours ago?" A doctor had come up to us. His name tag read Dr. White.**

**"Yes," Alex spoke up. "When can we have her…um…moved to the funeral home?"**

**Dr. White frowned.**

**"That won't be necessary."**

**"So you will take care of that?" Alex asked.**

**"No."**

**"Well then how do you propose we get it taken care of?" I interjected.**

**"I don't think you quite understand. Your daughter is** **alive."**

Present Day

_Elyse POV_

"So what happened?" Emmett asked. "Did you ever find Doug?"

"No," I said.

Edward looked up as Alice, Jasper and Carlisle came out of his office. He gave Jacob a look and then they both got up and went outside. They talked for a few minutes, quietly enough that no one could hear them, before Jacob leaped off the deck, phasing as he went. He ran off in the direction of the creek, with a couple members of his pack following.

"What is going on?" I asked.

"Nothing. Alice just scented a new vampire and the wolves went off to make sure it wasn't a threat," Carlisle said.

Something about the way he said that did not have me convinced.

_Alee POV_

I had been sitting at the river bed for over three hours. I had just decided to head back when I heard a twig snap for the second time. Instead of looking up, I listened. Last time I had looked up and then there was nothing to see. This time, I was going to listen and pretend that I hadn't heard anything. After a few minutes, I decided to risk a look up. When I did, my blood ran cold.

"Hello Alee."

_Tess POV_

"What is going on?" I asked. "I don't like being kept in the dark. Spill."

"Well, there is a good chance that the vampire I scented was Doug," Alice spoke up.

"Alice!"

"Edward, I will not lie to them. They deserve to know the truth."

Edward threw up his hands and headed out the door, with Carlisle following close behind. I gave Dad a look, waited until he had a firm grip on Mom, (so she wouldn't do something stupid), then I grabbed Nick and we headed out the door, tracking Edward and Carlisle.

_Seth POV_

When we got to the river bed, I didn't like what I saw. The vampire was pulling a sharpened branch out of Alee's leg. He clearly wanted to torture her before killing her. As he leaned toward her neck, I lunged.

_Doug POV_

Just as I was about to sink my teeth into her neck I was knocked back by something huge and smelly. I rolled back to the trees to regroup and figure out what had struck me. What I saw when I looked up shocked me. I had known that Alee and her brother and sister were wolves, but I didn't know that there were others. This new revelation meant I had to rethink my

_Alee POV_

The last thing I saw before I blacked out was a sandy colored wolf ripping Doug's head off.

_Carlisle POV_

As soon as Seth had killed Alee's attacker, I ran over to her to asses her injuries. They didn't seem horribly bad, especially since her accelerated healing was kicking in. What I was really worried about was internal injuries. Once I was sure that she didn't have a broken neck or spine, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her back to the house. Edward stayed behind to help dispose of Doug. _Edward, call Bella and have her and Emmett keep Elyse and Alex out of my office. And hurry back. I could use your help._

_Esme POV_

We were all anxiously awaiting word when Bella's phone chimed with a new text message. That could only mean that whoever sent her that message didn't want anyone overhearing which usually meant bad news.

"It's Edward," she said.

"Well? What did he say? Is Alee alright? What about Doug? Did they kill him?" Elyse asked. Alex could barely keep her sitting still. He'd almost lost his grip when they discovered Doug was back. With Emmett's help he'd been able to keep her here. I didn't blame her for wanting to go to her daughter. I would have done the same thing.

"All he said was Carlisle was bringing Alee back. He didn't say anything else." Bella wasn't saying something. It must have been for a good reason. Clearly Edward had said something he didn't want Elyse and Alex to know. Otherwise he would have called. Alex looked at me with a sad look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry you two. I had hoped this would be a more joyous occasion. However please will you still think about staying here? Even if it's only for a couple of months. Please don't leave," I said. Elyse's lip quivered. Alex held her tightly to him. He whispered in her ear, reassuring her. I looked at Bella but she was showing Emmett her text. I would've moved over to them but I was afraid if I moved, Elyse or Alex would notice. And then whatever Edward had planned would be all for naught.

_Alice POV_

Jasper and I were waiting in Carlisle's office. Our part of the plan was to have Jasper and I waiting in here for him until Edward could join him. So long as Bella, Rose and Emmett pulled off their part, then this plan was flawless. I had no doubt that they would even if I couldn't see it. It was tough not being able to see the outcome of an event. Maybe I relied on my gift too much. Maybe this was a good thing. Jasper nudged me just then. I looked to where he was pointing. Carlisle was coming toward the house with Alee in his arms. Jasper stiffened.

"She's covered in blood," he mouthed.

"I tried to warn you," I mouthed back as I ran to get the door. Carlisle silently slipped in and placed Alee gently on the table. Two wolves, one black with white socks and the other solid white, slipped out of the woods and came up to the outside door. They both looked in and then turned around and placed themselves in front of the door. It took me a second to realize they were guarding the door. That wasn't part of the original plan, but I wasn't about to send them away.

"Jazz, go stand outside the door with Emmett." I whispered. Jasper had been holding his breath the whole time even though we had just hunted earlier today. I wished he would just trust himself more. Of course it does make it harder when the person is bleeding right in front of you.

_Alee POV_

The next thing I was aware of was being laid on a table. At least it felt like a table. I couldn't move or speak or even open my eyes to check. I just hoped that wherever I was, I was with family. I knew Doug was dead, but what I didn't know was whether he was working alone or not.

"She's semi-conscious." I heard a voice say. The voice sounded like Edward's, but I couldn't be sure.

"We've got to find a way to stop the internal bleeding. A normal human would be dead by now," the same voice continued.

"I know, son. There's only so many ways to find out where the source is, but I'm not sure it's something I want to do in a houseful of vampires." This was a new voice. This one I recognized. This was Carlisle, possibly my new grandpa. I think. I'll figure that out later. So if this was Carlisle, then I was right about the first voice being Edward. Phew. I was among family after all. I heard another new voice, just then. This one was a girl and she kind of sounded like my dad. Or maybe I was imagining that. I don't even think I could tell which way is up right now. Anyway, the girl said, "Carlisle, you have to. She will die if you don't."

_Wait, what? I don't want to die. I want to live! How do I tell them that though? I want them to do whatever it takes to save me, short of making me a vampire. Sure I could live forever but I rather like being a wolf._

_Carlisle POV_

Edward had his head cocked to one side as if listening to something. "Wait. You said that Alee was semi-conscious. Can she hear us?" I asked. "Does she understand what I have I do?"

"She can hear us but I'm not sure she does understand that. Or at least she doesn't quite know what you mean."

"There has got to be another way," I said. I really didn't want to have to operate here. But I couldn't exactly take her to a hospital either. Too many questions would be asked. Questions that we didn't need asked. Questions that would most certainly bring the Volturi down on us again.

"Well what about an ultrasound? Maybe you would at least be able to see where to start. First we should clean her up," Alice spoke up. "Of course, after we clean her up, you may not even need the ultrasound," she added as an afterthought. So we gathered our supplies and started cleaning her up. Once she was cleaned up, I realized that I had been overreacting just a little bit. Most of her wounds were completely healed. There was only one spot that concerned me. "See this spot here?" I asked. "This is really the only spot of concern. Edward, would you bring the ultrasound here?" He did as I asked and then I proceeded to start it up. "You know this could be something as simple as a punctured lung," Alice said.

"Yeah unless a broken rib has punctured the lung and her body has already tried to heal the rib. Then we would have to re-brake the rib, and that's not going to be pretty."

"Stop being so cynical Edward," Alice said.

_Alex POV_

I could tell that Elyse was moments away from her breaking point. But, knowing her, I let her walk away because she preferred to be alone when she was like this. I still kept my eye on her though. Just in case she needed me. "Doug got away again?" I asked while watching Elyse.

"No," Jacob replied. I whipped around to face him. "What did you say?"

"He didn't get away. Seth killed him."

_Elyse POV_

I felt the anger coming on but instead of letting it consume me I tried turning it into something tangible. Soon I was able to see it as it became a part of my force field. I could feel the venom welling in my mouth like it did before a hunt. Only this time there was a metallic taste to it as well as the feeling of raw power. It was a feeling I hadn't felt since I was a newborn and I liked it. I really wanted to destroy something so I sent my force field toward the nearest tree. Instead of destroying the tree when it hit it like usual, I somehow pushed it inside the tree. I could feel it expanding and as soon as it reached its max, the tree exploded from the inside out with a resounding BOOM! Everyone came rushing out to the deck to see what had happened and then just stared at me in shock. I had sunk to the ground feeling very calm and drained. Alex knelt on the ground next to me and just held me.

_Charlie POV_

Out of nowhere there was this resounding BOOM followed by what felt like an earthquake. My deputy and I shared a look.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I have no idea, but it felt like it came from that direction."

I paled when I realized he was pointing toward where the Cullen's lived. Without even thinking, I grabbed my coat and my keys and headed out the door.


	13. Imprints

Imprints

_Charlie POV_

I sped down the road so fast I almost missed the turn. The only thing I could think of was my daughter and granddaughter. If something happened to them, I would go nuts. My phone rang beside me. Being a cop, I frowned on people talking on the phone while driving, but I had to know if it was Bella, so I grabbed my phone and answered it.

"Hello? Bella is that you?"

"Charlie? What was that boom? Is everything all right?" It wasn't my daughter. It was my fiancé, Sue Clearwater.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"I'm on the reservation. I had to deal with some tribal stuff that happened earlier this morning. I'll be done soon. So what was the boom?"

"I don't know. It sounded like it came from the Cullen's. I'm almost there now. I'll call you as soon as I know what is going on."

"Are you sure that's where it came from? Charlie, Leah and Seth are at the Cullen's!"

"Don't worry. I'm sure they're fine," I said, in an effort to reassure her, though I was far from reassured myself. "I've got to go. I can see the house."

_Alex POV_

Elyse was trembling. Not like our kids before they were about to phase, but more like she was exhausted and worn out. I held her against me and tried to get her trembling to lessen. She clutched me tightly, almost as if she was afraid of something, though I didn't know what. If I tried to move, she clutched me tighter.

"Honey? What happened?" She didn't respond. She didn't even act as if she'd heard, but I know she did. I sat there with her for a few minutes until I heard a car coming up the drive. Bella stiffened next to me and sniffed the air, then relaxed slightly.

"It's only Charlie."

"Alex, maybe you had better take Elyse inside for now," Edward said.

I nodded, scooped her up into my arms and carried her inside.

_Bella POV_

I watched as my dad pulled up to our house. As he got out of his cruiser, I noticed that he looked really worried. He kept glancing around as if he was looking for something or someone. His shoulders slumped, so whatever it was, he didn't find it.

"Dad, what's the matter?"

"Have you seen Leah and Seth?"

"Yeah, they're around here somewhere. Why?"

"Bella, I'm going to ask a serious question and I need a serious answer. There was an explosion of some kind about twenty minutes ago. It felt like it came from near here. What was it?"

I swallowed. _How was I going to explain this to my father without violating his need-to-know request? _I needed help so I lowered my shield and called for Edward. He was there in half a second. Charlie jumped a little when he seemed to appear out of nowhere, but then shook his head and muttered need-to-know.

"Bella? What was the explosion? And I really need to see Seth and Leah. Sue is worried about them."

"They're fine Charlie. Jacob has them helping him with something. They've been gone for a couple of hours."

Edward was lying. Seth was getting his shoulder bandaged up, and Leah was off hunting with Jacob and Renesmee. Telling Charlie that though would definitely break his deal. Charlie huffed.

"And the explosion?"

"No explosion. A tree fell."

"You expect me to believe that a falling tree caused a resounding boom that I could hear all the way to the sheriff's station, in the middle of town mind you, and that Sue could hear all the way up to La Push? I don't buy it. I want some answers and I want them now."

I shared a look with Edward, and lowered my shield again. _He wants to know. I feel like I have to tell him something. But I can't tell him everything or I risk us having to deal with the Volturi again. Please say something. I hate lying to him. _

Edward sighed. "Fine. It wasn't a tree. But it does fall in the scope of the need-to-know. To be honest, if I tell you exactly what happened, then you and Sue and everyone else in this town would be in danger. As long as you can accept the need-to-know, everyone will be safe."

"Edward, I don't like being kept in the dark. I feel like the two of you and your family have been keeping secrets from me for a long time. I am the sheriff of this town. I deserve to know the truth."

"Dad, you know that we're different. I can't tell you why, but it's because of that, that there was that boom. It was a tree. That is the truth. A tree was destroyed, no one was hurt and that's really all I can tell you."

"Fine. If you expect me to believe that a tree was destroyed, how was it destroyed?"

"I don't really know yet. And even if I did, I couldn't tell you. Not if you want us to stay here."

"That's not fair. You tried that on me two years ago and I didn't like it then any more than I do now. Bells, how do you not know how it was destroyed?"

I pulled him into a hug. "Dad, I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't. We will have to leave if I tell you. I don't want to leave you and neither will Renesmee. Please don't push this."

He sighed. "Bells, one of these days you are going to have to tell me the truth."

"I know Dad. I just hope that day could be sooner rather than later."

We hugged again and then he left. I turned to Edward.

"I hate lying to him. We're never going to be able to tell him the truth." My voice caught, and Edward grabbed me and pulled me to him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

_Elyse POV_

Alex had taken me into a bedroom. I'm not sure who it belonged to, but I didn't really care. All I wanted was to be able to, well I don't know what. I was sure that Doug had gotten away again, and this time he had killed Alee. Why he was so fixated on her, I didn't know. What I did know was that I would hunt him to the ends of the earth for what he had done. This time, he would die. This time

"Elyse, are you alright?"

I looked up at Alex and immediately started dry sobbing. "I can't take this. Why did he do this? Why did he pick her? Why did he have kill her?"

"Kill her? Honey, Alee is alive. The wolves got there fast enough to stop him. She was injured, but she should be okay."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?! I want to see her. Where's Doug? He better be destroyed or I will explode him from the inside out."

"Do you actually think you could do that again? Are you sure you would want to?"

I sighed. "I don't know if I could do that again. I didn't know I could do it before."

"What were you trying to do?"

"Honestly? I was trying to just knock the tree over. But I was so angry that I could feel my force field go into the tree and expand until it exploded. For the first time in fifteen years, I have no clue what I am capable of, and that scares me a little bit."

Alex wrapped his arms around me. "It'll be ok. Come on, let's go see her."

_Carlisle POV_

I had just finished stitching up Alee's side after re-braking her rib when there was a knock at the door. I motioned for Alice to get it.

"Oh hi. Umm, can we see Alee now?" I heard Alex ask.

"Of course you can. Come on in."

They walked over to where Alee lay. Elyse was still trembling from earlier. Her eyes were pitch black, so I knew she hadn't hunted in a while. After seeing the way she had protected Alee earlier, both from Sam and from Rose and Emmett, I knew she wouldn't actually hurt her. Of course I also knew how hard it was to be around someone that was bleeding, or had just recently bled. No matter how much you cared about the person, it was still hard.

As Elyse sat down next to Alee, I pulled Alex aside.

"Alex, she needs to hunt," I whispered. Alex just nodded and sighed as he looked at his wife and daughter.

"Why did he do this to you Alee?" Elyse whispered as she stroked her daughter's face. Alee stirred slightly, but didn't wake up. Alex walked up to Elyse and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Honey, when was the last time you hunted?" She didn't answer. "Elyse?"

"Not now, Alex. I need to be here with her."

"No. What you need is blood. Alee is in good hands here. She will be fine. Look, we won't go far. That way they can find us when she wakes up."

"You mean _if_ she wakes up."

"I meant what I said. Please don't give up on her now. She's a fighter. So much so that she was able to hold Doug off not once, but twice. She will get through this."

Elyse sighed, leaned down and kissed Alee's forehead.

"We'll be right back, honey. I promise."

_Alee POV_

I was vaguely aware of my mom kissing my forehead. She said something about being back and I heard my dad say something about hunting. A short while after they left (I don't actually have any clue as to how long) I heard someone sit down next to me. The only thing I could tell about them was that they were a wolf. That and also that they weren't Tess or Nick.

_Jacob POV _

"Leah, can we talk?" I asked after the both of us phased back. I wanted to talk privately so we had to be human. Otherwise we risked any member of the pack that was phased hearing us.

"What is it, Jacob?"

"How do you feel about the new wolves? Especially since you're no longer the only female wolf."

"Are you asking as my Alpha or as my friend?"

"Both."

She sighed, "I'm not sure yet. Have they even picked a pack?"

"Well not officially, but given today's events I highly doubt they'll go with Sam. Do you feel any sort of connection with them?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly.

"What exactly is this about, Jacob?"

I stayed quiet. I wanted her to tell me if she felt anything because I didn't want to assume that she had. I was pretty sure she had. After a minute of us just looking at each other, she finally spoke.

"Look, based on what you said happened with you and Renesmee, I think it's possible that I might have, umm, imprinted on Nick."

I smiled, "So my suspicions are correct then."

"What do I do? They don't know anything about imprinting. How do I drop that bomb without scaring him off? Or risking the wrath of his mother? You saw what she did to Sam."

I sighed, "I know. Maybe if we talk to his parents together we can explain it better."

"At least I didn't imprint on him when he was a baby."

I elbowed her, "Shut up."

We kept walking in silence until we reached the edge of the lawn. Leah stopped suddenly with a look of fear in her eyes. I turned to where she was looking and froze. In our path was the remains of a tree. There was bits of bark and leaves and branches all over the place. I shared a look with Leah and then we both took off for the house.

_Nessie POV_

Jacob had let me run on ahead because he wanted to talk to Leah privately. It probably had something to do with the new wolves. I was excited to get to know them. As I walked in the house, Mom and Dad both looked up with a sort of concerned expression.

"What's wrong? Mom?" I ran up to her and grabbed her around the waist. "Is it Alee?"

"No honey, Alee's fine. She's still sleeping though so you'll have to wait to visit with her. It's her mom, actually."

"What happened? Is she ok?"

"She's fine. Honey, you remember what she did to Sam?"

When I nodded, she continued, "Well, her ability has expanded exponentially."

"Does that mean that the Volturi will come back?"

"That's what your father and I are worried about."

I thought for a bit then said, "Mom, it's alright. If Elyse could knock Sam back, I don't think the Volturi would try anything right away. We'll just have to prepare and maybe pretend that they're coming so that if and when they do, we'll be ready for them."

She gave me a hug. "You're right honey. Now why don't you go see what your Aunt Alice is doing?"

I knew she was just trying to reassure me and then send me on my way so I went along with her ruse. She could pretend a little longer.

_Seth POV_

I had been sitting by Alee ever since her parents had left. By now I was 95% sure that I had imprinted on her but I wouldn't be completely positive until she woke up. When I first looked at her after I killed Doug, I wasn't sure she'd even survive. She had been covered in blood, some dried, some not, barely breathing. Jacob had nudged Edward to burn Doug and just as he was about to throw the lighter, he stopped, a slow smile spreading across his face. Jake had asked him what he was doing, and then Edward had said, "Come on. Bring the pieces. When Alee wakes up she can burn him." He'd started to walk away, then stopped. "For good measure, separate the pieces so they don't start crawling back to each other." After that, he closed the lighter and ran off in the direction of the house. Jacob had thought he was nuts, but he agreed to go along with it. So we had gathered the pieces, and put them in separate rooms. Now as I sat watching Alee, I could see that she was going to be just fine and I realized, that Edward's idea was genius.

I looked up when I heard Alee stirring. _Edward, _I thought. _She's waking up._ A few minutes later Carlisle came into the room, with Alee's sister Tess following close behind. Not wanting to freak Alee out, I stood up and motioned for Tess to sit down. I figured having someone you knew sitting next to you was better than waking up next to a stranger. We hadn't been properly introduced, so I was still a stranger to her. I did not want our first official meeting to be bad.

_Tess POV_

As soon as I walked in, Seth stood up and let me sit by Alee. I nodded and gave him a smile as I sat down. Alee was trying to open her eyes so I grabbed her hand to reassure her.

"It's alright, Alee. You're safe. You can open your eyes," I whispered.

Slowly, almost as though she was afraid I wasn't really there, she did.

"Tess?" she whispered, her voice hoarse. Tears started falling from the corners of her eyes.

"I'm right here. It's alright. You're alright." I started rubbing her hand. That action had always soothed her.

"Is he gone?"

"Yes, honey. He'll never hurt you again." There was no point in telling her that he wasn't completely destroyed. She would find out, but I wasn't going to tell her just yet.

_Alex POV_

I looked over at Elyse just as she shoved the cougar's carcass off of her. Even after 17 years of hunting experience, she was still a mess. That might have had more to do with the fact that she hadn't hunted in three weeks, though.

"Feel better?"

She gave me a dirty look. "Depends on what you mean. Thirst-wise I feel much better. If you were wondering how I feel about the whole situation with Doug? I'm still angry. What was he trying to prove? Or was he just insane?"

"We'll never know honey. He's gone and that's really all that matters. Besides, there's no point dwelling on the past. It's not going to help Alee heal emotionally. Or you." She gave me a small half-smile and hugged me.

"If you weren't a lawyer, you should have been a therapist."

I laughed. "You know honey, we really should have brought a change of clothes."

_Alice POV_

"Alice. Alice."

"Huh?" I blinked. "Sorry. Is it my turn?" Jasper and I were playing chess. I was winning of course.

"Honey what did you see?"

"Nothing bad. Alex and Elyse are going to need a change of clothes though."

Jasper chuckled. "Let's go see if we have anything. You're going to beat me anyway."

_Elyse POV_

"I want to see his ashes," I said as soon as we got back and Alice had handed us a change of clothes. Alice and Jasper looked at each other nervously.

"What is it?" Alex asked. "Jacob told me Seth killed him. So what's with the cryptic looks?"

Alice sighed, "Seth did kill him. But Edward didn't burn him."

"WHAT?" I screamed. Alex grabbed me by the shoulders.

"Calm down honey." He turned to Alice, "Edward better have had an extremely good reason for not burning him. Care to explain?"

"Actually, I do." Edward appeared out of nowhere. I tried lunging at him but both Alex and Jasper stopped me. I growled at both of them, but didn't struggle.

"I thought it would be poetic justice if Alee was the one that burned him. Especially since he tried to kill her twice."

I stopped growling. What he said actually made a ton of sense. Even if I didn't particularly like it.

"Wait. There's something else. What is it, Edward?" Alex asked.

"Well, umm…"

"Let me explain," Jacob said, having come up to us while Edward had been talking.

_Jacob POV_

I had no idea how I was going to explain this. Bella had tried to kill me when she found out about me imprinting on Ness. _Edward, I know you're still having a hard time with me imprinting on Ness, but please don't let Elyse kill me._

"Ok well there's this thing with us wolves. Uh it's called imprinting. It's uh where we uh find um our soulmate."

"Wait. Are you saying that you have, what did you call it? Imprinting? On one of our daughters?" Alex asked. Elyse started growling again and I could see Alex tighten his grip on her.

"No not me. But Leah has, or will, imprint on Nick. And Embry thinks he'll imprint on Tess."

"What do you mean thinks? How exactly does this work?" Alex seemed a little bit more open to the idea than Elyse. She was still growling at me.

"Well, when you see the person, all of a sudden your reason for being on Earth changes. It's not gravity that keeps you grounded. It's this person. You would do anything, be anything for them."

In between growls Elyse said, "If any of your wolves hurts my kids, I will personally kill them as slowly as possible. Got that?"

"That's not gonna happen. A wolf cannot hurt, physically, emotionally, or mentally the person they imprint on. And if another wolf hurts or even kills an imprint, the imprinter will fight them. To the death."

Elyse stopped growling. "What exactly do you mean?"

"It's in an imprinter's nature to protect who they imprint on. They can't hurt them."

"That's all fine and well, but you still haven't explained what you meant when you said they think they'll imprint," Alex said.

"Well, they won't know for sure until they look each other in the eyes."

"Why haven't they already done it, then?" Alex asked.

I swallowed. "Umm, because they were afraid."

"Of what?" Elyse asked.

"You," I said, nodding in her general direction.

"Me? Why would they be... oh." She grinned sheepishly. "Oops."

_Tess POV _

I sat with Alee until she fell asleep. After a while I had gotten up to take a bit of walk and sort through everything that had happened. As I walked through the living room, Nick looked up from his chess game with Seth.

"Where are you going?"

"I need a walk. I won't go far. Promise." As I was walking out the door I bumped into another one of the wolves. I think his name was Embry.

"Oops sorry," I said looking up at him.

"That's alright," he replied as our eyes met. All of a sudden I felt as if nothing else in the world mattered. Nothing except for him. And I didn't even know him. Not really.

"Tess, are you alright?" I heard Nick ask. It almost sounded as if he was far away.

"Yeah, fine," I replied. Even my voice sounded far away. It was like I could only focus on Embry. And from the look on his face, he felt the same.

"What just happened?" I heard Nick ask Seth.

"Umm, I think they imprinted."


	14. Spies

Spies

_Aro POV_

Caius, Marcus and I were in the middle of feeding when a lesser member of our Guard burst in. I looked at him in disdain.

"You better have a very good reason for interrupting our meal," Caius said, glaring at our unannounced visitor. Marcus just ignored him abd continued to feed.

"Master, I wanted to please you so I checked up on the Cullen's. I know you did not dispatch any of us but I felt that we should keep an eye on them."

"Did you find something of interest or can we get back to our meal?" I asked.

"They have added two more to their coven. That's not all!" he cried when Caius signaled Demetri and Felix to grab him. They would kill him if necessary. I took a deep, yet unnecessary, breath.

"What else is there?" I sighed.

"Apparently the two new vampires claim three of those so called "shape-shifters" as children. They have been living together for seventeen years."

"Brother, fighting together one time is one thing. Living together is quite another." Caius remarked.

"Hmmm. Perhaps it is time we pay another visit to the Cullen's." I signaled for Felix and Demetri to let go.

"Well done, Afton. I take it you used your invisibility power?" I asked. He nodded.

"Very well done indeed."


	15. Discovery

Discovery

_Tess POV _

After I bumped into Embry, I decided against going on a walk. Seth had just finished explaining exactly what imprinting was to me and to Nick when my parents walked in. I glanced up at them and tilted my head at my mother.

"Those are not the clothes you were wearing earlier. Did you make a mess again?"

Before she could give me anything more than a snarky look, Carlisle came down the stairs.

"How's Alee?" Mom asked.

"She'll be alright. Most of her injuries have already healed, but it'll take a couple of days for her rib and her leg to heal. And she'll probably be sore for at least another couple of days after that. She's awake now if you'd like to talk with her."

You didn't need to tell my parents twice. Faster than I could even blink, they were already up the stairs.

A couple hours later, Dad came down without Mom. I was about to ask where Mom was when he shook his head at me. Generally that meant that Mom was having a private moment with one of us kids. Mom was often the more volatile of my parents, but she still liked to have a quiet moment of one-on-one time with us.

I could hear Alee start to raise her voice so I figured Mom must have told her about Doug. I couldn't quite make out what she said before Mom shushed her. I looked over at my dad but he was deep in conversation with Edward and Carlisle. They seemed to be catching up on lost time. Since it seemed as if everything was going to be just fine, I went back to my crossword puzzle. Or at least I tried to.

"Hi. I'm Alice."

I looked up at the pixie-like vampire.

"Yes?" I asked, arching my eyebrow at her. Normal vampires don't talk to werewolves but I suspected she was far from normal. Unlike my sister, I'm not super wary around vampires, unless they're trying to kill me. Doesn't mean I trust them any further than I could throw them, though.

"I just wanted to get to know you a bit. You know, seeing as you're technically my niece."

"What're you talking about? How am I your niece?"

"Well, I've always viewed Carlisle and Esme as my parents, even though neither one of them turned me. And I can't be positive, but your dad probably considers them his parents as well. Which technically makes us siblings, which makes you my niece."

"Oh. I didn't know vampire families existed, let alone worked like that."

"Most don't. Most vampires are either nomads or part of a coven. There's only two known covens that consider themselves families. Us, and the Denali's. They live in Alaska. We consider them cousins."

"Why? And what do you mean Carlisle didn't create you? Who did?"

"We call them cousins because we all hunt animals instead of people. And I never met my creator. I woke up alone. But Carlisle and Esme adopted me and my mate, Jasper. So we both consider them our parents."

"Oh. I often wondered why my parents hunted animals instead of people. I guess now I know."

Alice smiled. "15 across is 'NationalTreasure.'"

"How did you...? Oh right. You see the future." I paused. "Did you see us coming?"

"No. I don't always see events involving the wolves. I'm working on it, but I'm far from perfect."

"Aren't we all?"

Alice just smiled.

_Alee POV_

There was a soft knock at the door.

"Come in."

"Hey, everyone's waiting in the yard. Are you sure you can do this?" Tessa asked.

I gave her a hard stare and snapped, "Yes. I can do this." I slowly stood up, gingerly putting weight on my left leg. The same leg that Doug yanked a tree branch out of two days ago. It gave out on me but Tess was there to catch me before I could make a fool of myself. I growled in frustration. I hated asking for help.

"Do you want me to get Nick? That way you have both of us if necessary."

"Fine. You'll do it anyway."

She smirked. "You know me well, sis."

Tess helped me to the door and when we got the hallway I saw that Nick was already waiting.

"I'll just walk behind you and that way I'm here if you need me," he said. Such a tender-hearted brother.

We made it outside without too much trouble. My leg did give out once more, but Tess had a good enough hold on me that Nick didn't need to do any more than steady us. Luckily for me my family wasn't waiting too far from the house. I didn't know how much longer I could keep upright without falling over, even with Tessa and Nick by my side. I swallowed as we got closer to the pile of Doug's remains. I took a deep breath and reached for the lighter that my mom handed me. She looked me right in the eyes and instead of asking me if I could do this like I thought she would, she gave me a big hug.

"I'm so proud of you honey." I nodded, and then she moved back to stand next to my dad. I lit the lighter, and with a deep breath, threw it at the pile. It ignited immediately, and I sagged in relief. It was finally over. No more looking over my shoulder wondering if he was going to come back. No more jumping whenever someone snuck up on me. No more being scared to go off alone and jumping at anything that moved. I had won.

"Come on, let's get you back inside," Tess said. I nodded. My mom must have seen the weariness on my face because the next thing I knew, she had scooped me into her arms and was carrying me into the house.

_Paul POV_

"Any leads?" Jared asked. I shook my head. Sam had had us doing more frequent patrols since that note had been found. None of us wanted to take any chances on a vampire slipping though. After Sam had gotten back from the Cullen's two days ago, I had wanted to give him a piece of my mind. Then I saw the look on his face and realized that he was upset enough without me rubbing salt in his wound. I had to laugh. Normally I was the volatile one, but marriage and fatherhood had changed Sam. He didn't just have a village to protect. Now he had a family too.

I was about to phase back when I caught a whiff of a vampire. I froze. I had smelled this leech before. It was the same one I had stopped from killing that girl eight months ago. What was I supposed to do? My head whipped back and forth from the scent to Jared. He gave me a strange look.

"Dude, what's wrong?"

I whined.

"Calm down. Stay here, I'll go get Sam."

I didn't particularly like the Cullen's, but I did have friends over there and from what I had seen of this leech before, he was pretty lethal. While Jared was getting Sam, I decided to phase back. How else would I be able to explain my reaction to the scent? Or the circumstances from when I first came across it? I wasn't worried about retribution. I knew I hadn't done anything wrong then, even if I hadn't told anyone other than my wife what had happened. The only reason that I didn't go after the leech now was because the scent went toward the Cullen's land. They were doing their own patrols. While they would probably catch him, I still wanted to warn them on the off chance they didn't.

"Paul, what's up?" Sam asked as he walked up with Jared.

"I need to tell you something and you have to promise not to get mad."

"Why would I get mad?"

"Just hear me out ok?"

"Go ahead."

I took a deep breath and told them everything. About how I'd come across his scent, and how I'd had to choose between killing him and saving the girl.

"I couldn't have it both ways, so I had to choose the lesser of two evils. Not that saving someone is evil. I was just between a rock and a hard place, you know." At that point I just started babbling. I'm not even sure what I said.

"Paul, calm down. You made the same choice anyone of us would have. Except for maybe not saying anything. So why are you telling us now?"

"Because I caught his scent heading toward the Cullen's. Look I know you don't really care for them, nor do I for that matter, but we should still tell them."

"Why?" Jared asked.

"Well I don't think he's stupid enough to go after an 8-vampire coven, but what about the town? He almost killed that girl eight months ago. If I hadn't been there, I think he would have. They should at least know so they can keep a watch out. What do you think, Sam?"

"I think," he paused, "I think we should tell them. They have always told us when there was a threat. We should return the favor."

"But what about the note?" Jared asked.

"I don't care about the note. I would rather fight with the Cullens then against them. So Paul, you and Jared go to the Cullens and tell them what you know. Tell them we'll keep a lookout as well."

_Elyse POV_

"Honey, what are you doing out here? He's dead. You don't need to watch him burn."

I stared at the flames a minute more before turning to Alex. "What if Seth had been a second later? What if Doug had been faster? What if….?"

"Elyse stop. You're just going to work yourself into a tizzy wondering and worrying about all the possible what ifs. He's dead and so it doesn't matter what might have happened. What matters is what did happen. Come one, let's go inside," Alex said, wrapping me in a hug. I leaned against him for another minute before I let him lead me toward the house. As we got closer I could hear unfamiliar voices coming from inside. I looked up at Alex, but he didn't seem to recognize them either. However no one inside sounded worried so someone must have known them. Alex and I walked inside and saw two Native American men standing in the living room. I figured they were part of Sam's pack as they were both shirtless and they had the same tattoo.

"I don't quite understand why you're telling us this. So you saved a girl's life. You didn't get the vampire attacking her but you tried. So what does this have to with us?" Jacob asked.

"Nothing technically. But Sam agreed with me that we should let you know about him. Especially after I witnessed him trying to kill that girl. I've never seen a vampire act that way. He was full of rage, even more so when she hit him with a branch. I did everything I could without having to reveal myself. As I was in wolf form that would have raised a lot of questions. And I couldn't exactly phase back and answer questions either. So I did the only thing I could do. I asked. 髠 賠ဖ뀀ဖ攠ᑨ纠ᚻ﷽﷽﷽﷽﷽﷽﷽﷽t you tried. So what does this have to with us?"vBut Sam aggreed that we should let you know so you canalso protect the town if need be. But But Look, we only came here to tell you to be on the lookout. I don't know how old this guy is, but he was pretty powerful when I fought him eight months ago."

I shared a look with Alex. I wasn't a mind reader, but I was pretty sure we were thinking the same thing.

"Where was this?" I asked.

"Seattle. Why?"

"Mom, what's going on?" Alee asked from the top of the stairs.

"Nothing honey. Go back and rest. Everything's fine."

"No. I am so tired of being cooped up in this room. I hate being cooped up and you know it. Why can't I rest down here?"

"Well I…." I looked at Carlisle. He shrugged his shoulders. "It's alright with me," he said.

Alee looked relieved. Alex went up the stairs to help her down. At first she tried to do it herself, but when Alex pointed out that she was as pale as him she let him carry her down the stairs. The whole time this was happening the visitor who had told his story was watching my daughter with a puzzling look.

"I'm sorry, but have we met before?" he asked her. "You just seem really familiar to me."

"Umm, I don't think so. Sorry," Alee replied. "What's your name?"

"Paul. Are you sure we haven't met?" Alee concentrated for a minute. "No, I'm pretty sure we haven't. Unless you've been to Seattle recently. Otherwise, probably not."

Paul blinked a couple times before a look of shock crossed his face. "It's you!" he whispered.

"What's me? I have never seen you before. And to be quite honest, you're starting to freak me out a bit," she said after Alex had put her on the couch.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I have a weird question for you. Were you attacked by a vampire eight months ago?"

"How would you know that?"

He swallowed. "Because I was there. I came across him attacking you and I tried to stop him, but I couldn't kill him and save you. I chose saving you, obviously, but now he's back. Or at least he's been in the area because I came across his scent and that's why I'm here and…"

"Hold up. No one's told you?" she asked.

"Told me what?"

"Mom?"

"Hey I walked in in the middle of the conversation," I said putting my hands up.

Alee rolled her eyes. "Sorry. Paul, Doug is dead. I set his remains on fire about an hour ago."

"Wait what? Really?"

"Yeah. He tried to kill me again. Only, you, right?" she said pointing over to Seth, who was sitting in the corner. He nodded, glancing at her then at me with a scared look on his face. I'd have to ask Jacob about that later. "He got him first. Now I never have to worry about him coming at me again. Thank you for coming, though."

"I'm confused," the other stranger said. "Why would this guy try to kill you twice?"

"We don't know. Seth killed him instead of stopping to ask questions. Which was the right thing," Alex said as Seth opened his mouth to protest. "Frankly I don't really care. That animal is dead and after what he did to my daughter, he's lucky Seth got him first. I would not have been so kind."

Paul smiled. "Well, thank you for letting us explain. Now I better get home and explain everything to my wife. I have torn myself up these past eight months thinking that I couldn't save you. She has put up with a lot from me. Anyway, we'll get out of your hair. Thanks again." With that, both of the visitors left.

"Well that was something I didn't expect," Alee said. Everyone else nodded in agreement. "Say Tess, do you want to play a game?"

"Sure. What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know. What about a card game?"

I smiled at the resilience both of my girls were showing. They had both been through something horrible, Alee more so, and yet they were both bouncing back relatively well. I had my suspicions that this imprinting thing had something to do with it, but if my girls were happier because of it, then so be it. Alex pulled me over to the corner where he sat down, pulling me into his lap.

"So Alex, tell us a little about yourself," Alice asked.

"Like what?"

"Where are you originally from?" she asked.

"I'm from Mississippi. But I wasn't changed there."

"How come?" she asked.

"I had left Mississippi completely behind me. I wanted to start a life far away from my father so I moved to Michigan. I was hiking in Manistee National Forest when disaster struck. I fell off an overlook point. I lay there for hours, not able to move and not knowing that I was slowly bleeding to death. Late that same night, as I was almost completely unconscious, I felt a sharp pain in my neck. When I awoke, Carlisle explained everything to me. As soon as I could control my thirst, I went back to Mississippi to try and save my sister but I was too late. She was already dead. I was five years too late," Alex lamented. "I still want to know what happened, but I haven't been able to bear going back to Biloxi."

"Wait. You lived in Biloxi?" Alice asked.

"Yes, why?"

"What year?"

"I was born in 1898. Carlisle changed me in 1926. Why?"

Alice stuck her hand out. Alex looked at her for a second.

"You know what this means," he said. "I will know everything about your past and about you."

"Just so long as you share what you find with me," she replied.

Alex gave her a puzzled look and then he stood up and grabbed her hand. He stared into space for about 30 seconds and then dropped her hand and stumbled back. I barely caught him.

"Alice," he breathed.

She blinked up at him and said,

"I have never remembered my human life, but I remember you."


	16. History Revealed

History Revealed

_Elyse POV_

"What do you mean you've never remembered your human life?" Alex asked at the same time Jasper said, "Alice, you remember?"

"Well I guess it's more like déjà vu than actually remembering. I still have no idea what happened in my human life, only now I feel as if you were somehow apart of it. I don't really know how though. Will you tell me what you saw?" Alice asked Alex.

"I…um…I don't know if that's a good idea."

I looked at Alex in surprise. "Honey, you have always told me that you won't keep secrets of the past from someone. Why start now?"

"I just…..I can't!"

"She deserves to know!" Jasper said. Alex bit his lip. "I'm sorry!" he said, before he bolted out the door. Jasper started after him, but Alice put her hand on his arm. "Let him be, Jazz."

"Let me go after him," I said. "I'll see if I can figure out what's going on." With that, I ran out the door after my husband.

It took about an hour to catch up with him. He had run in a zig zag pattern and in circles to avoid being followed, but I still managed to pick up his trail. Soon I realized that he had gone up into the trees, so I took to the trees as well. When I came upon him, he was trembling and dry sobbing.

"Honey are you alright?"

"Not really, no. I don't want to talk about it."

"Well I know this isn't what you want to hear but, Jasper is right. Alice deserves to know what you saw. What did you see?"

"It was horrible. What they did to her. And she's blissfully unaware of any of it. How can I change that? She's better off not knowing. She's been better off for the last century. I can't do that to her. I won't."

"Honey, she still deserves to know. Whatever happened before isn't going to change who she is. It may be hard, but you should tell her. Look, why don't you tell me first and then I can help you tell her."

Alex looked up at me, still trembling, "Are you sure about that?"

I nodded. He sighed and then told me everything.

"Oh honey."

_Alice POV_

"Do you think they'll come back?" I asked Jasper for what seemed like the thousandth time.

"Alice there's one thing you have to understand about my dad," Tess said, looking up from her card game. "Sometimes he has to have time alone to sort out his thoughts, but he's always come back. Although..." she trailed off, biting her lip. "I don't know what he saw, but whatever it was it must've been big. I've never seen him that shaken."

"Great," I said sarcastically. "I'm probably like an axe murderer or something. That's probably why I don't remember. Or maybe I was assaulted in some way so I don't remember because my brain couldn't handle it. Or maybe..."

"Alice stop. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for your memory loss. And no I don't think you were an ax murderer. I think it's all a lot simpler than that." Jazz said. I buried my face in his chest and we stood just like that for the better part of two hours. We would have stood there longer had I not had another horrible thought.

"Jazz, what if I hurt a child?"

"Alice, I've seen the way you are with Renesmee. You could never hurt a child. Besides, becoming a vampire will not drastically change who you are. It will only amplify who you were as a human. So let's just wait till Alex and Elyse get back and then, after he's told us whatever it is that he saw, then you can freak out. OK?"

I sighed, "OK."

_Tessa POV_

"What do you think he saw?" Nick whispered to me while we were playing chess. We had started playing it after Alee fell asleep and Nick didn't really want to play cards anymore.

I paused in the middle of moving my rook, thinking. "I don't know Nick. Alice said she thought Dad may have been a part of her human life. I don't know how, but I'm hoping he'll tell her. I mean, Jasper's right. She should know." I bit my lip.

"But," Nick prodded.

I sighed. "But…..I don't know. On the one hand, she deserves to know. On the other, would she really want to know? Based off of Dad's reaction I don't think it's all sunshine and lollipops. So if that's the case, is she really better off not knowing? I don't know how to answer that. I don't know if there even is an answer to that." At that we both went back to the game. Neither of us said a word for several minutes. Soon we both looked up at the sound of someone approaching. Mom and Dad had returned.

_Elyse POV_

Just as we got within sight of the house, Alex stopped.

"I don't know if I can do this," he said. I gave him a hard stare.

"Yes you can. Honey look at me. You have been searching for information about your sister for 82 years and Alice has the last piece of the puzzle. You are so close and you just want to quit? You've never quit at anything in your life. No challenge is too hard for you. Just like that day we came home and found three huge wolves instead of our children. Do you remember what you said to me that day? You said, 'Elyse, we can do this. I'm not quite sure what this will entail, but just as we have overcome other hard challenges, we can figure out how to make this work for us.' Do you remember that?"

He sighed, then looked at me with a smile, "You're right. I can do this. And she does deserve to know." With that, he squared his shoulders, gripped my hand and we walked back into the house together.

_Alice POV_

"This is a lot harder than I thought it would be," Alex said. He pursed his lips, and closed his eyes. "Ok here goes nothing. But before I tell you what I saw, I want to tell you a little more about me, if that's all right." I nodded and he continued.

"You already know that I was born in 1898. My father worked with pearls and my mother stayed home to take care of my sisters and me. I was the oldest, but May was only three years younger than me. Cinnia was a surprise. She was just a kid when I left."

"Why did you leave?" I asked.

"My father. He was always belittling me and May. Cinnia was too young to have ever done anything to offend him, but May and I weren't. Not that we ever actually offended him. He was just always comparing us to the neighbor kids. May was a little more outspoken than other girls her age, and that really got under his skin. It never bothered my mother, though. She always just laughed it off. So as soon as I turned 18, I left. I was going to try to make something of myself and then come back for May. Turns out, it's a lot harder to do that than you'd think. Didn't help that my dad came after me after two years. He was insistent that I come back and join him in the pearl trading business. I didn't want to go into the same business as him. I wanted to study law, so I refused. Although now I wonder if I should've gone back. If I had maybe…." he trailed off.

"Maybe what?" I asked. Elyse squeezed his hand and he shook his head.

"Nothing. I just wonder if maybe I would've had more success. But then I probably would've never become a vampire."

"Why would you have gone back for May?" Jasper asked suddenly.

Alex paused and bit his lip, as if he was weighing his words very carefully. Elyse squeezed his hand. He looked down at her and she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Because May was very outspoken, she didn't have any friends. Humans are so fickle. Her outspokenness was what made her different, unique. Although maybe it was because she was different that they didn't like her. Whatever the reason was didn't matter. Because she had no one to be around other than family, Mother wanted to be sure I never treated her any differently. Didn't matter that she said that because I didn't. May was special, and we were best friends because of it. The only reason I didn't take her with me to begin with was because Mother asked me not to. She knew how unhappy May was, but she was the one that wanted me to be able to provide for myself before I took her. I tried explaining that to May but she was still very angry with me. At first she wouldn't even write to me. Soon though, I started getting weekly letters from her. Most were about trivial things. Until I received a letter telling me Mother had been killed. I was about to start packing to go back home, when I read the last little bit of May's letter. She wrote that Mother wouldn't want me to come rushing back home at the first sign of trouble. She would want me to keep pursuing my dream of becoming a lawyer. It would be such a waste to come back now, especially since I was getting close to finishing law school. So I stayed away. I got so lost in my studies that I didn't really notice that May had stopped writing to me. At least I didn't notice until after I graduated. I sent my family a letter announcing it, but they didn't show. I just figured that Father forbid anyone from showing up so I shrugged it off. Well I tried to anyway. I kept writing to May but I got no answer. It never occurred to me that she wasn't receiving my letters. Soon, I was so busy with work that I didn't have time to dwell on why she wasn't writing me, nor did I have time to write her myself. My life was so hectic that one day I decided to go for a hike to clear my head. You already know what happened next."

"Did you ever find out why she stopped writing to you?" I asked.

Alex looked down at me with a sad smile. "Yes and no."

"What do you mean?" Esme asked.

Alex sighed and squeezed Elyse's hand. "May died shortly after our mother. Father taunted me with the information as he told me. I almost killed him then and there, for I was sure he had something to do with her death, but then I happened to glance over and catch sight of Cinnia. She didn't recognize me, but I could see she was terrified. So I let him live, but I didn't leave until he told me what happened to May. I knew right away he was lying because he said that May was the one responsible for killing Mother, and that as soon as she was caught she killed herself. May didn't have a mean bone in her body and would never have done that. He told me where her grave was, but I could smell that there was not a body in it. He didn't seem to be lying when he said she was dead but he was lying about where she was buried. I didn't go back though because I knew he had told me all he was going to tell me. After that, I followed up any lead I could but there wasn't much. No one would talk to me. And because May wasn't well liked, they were all glad that she was gone. You have no idea how many times I wanted to rip someone's throat out. I never did though because if I had found May at the expense of a human life I'd have never forgiven myself. It took me about a decade to realize I might never know the truth. That realization was almost harder to accept than her death."

"Alex why didn't you just use your gift to find out what happened to your sister?" Carlisle asked.

"I didn't discover my gift until I was almost two years old. Even then, it started only as feelings about something. It slowly developed into what is now but by that time, everyone that might have known something was either dead or close to it. And since I hadn't aged at all, that would have raised way too many questions. I tried looking in the microfiche the library had but my family didn't really run in social circles, despite how much my father wanted to. The only information they had was both my sister's birth dates, May's death date, my mother's death date and the announcement of my parents' marriage. I wasn't even mentioned. I think my father did that spite me for leaving and not joining him in the pearl trading business. For some reason that was a huge thorn in his side that I wouldn't join him. Either that or it really irked him that I wouldn't let him control my life. Father was big into controlling things and it really bothered him when he couldn't. So there you have it. That's my story."

"There's one thing I still don't understand. What does all of this have to do with me? Was she in the asylum with me?" I asked.

Alex and Elyse shared a surprised look. "How do you know about the asylum?" he asked.

"About three years ago I had a chance to do some research. It started because a tracker had tried to kill Bella and he knew who I was though I'd never met him. He mentioned an asylum and shock treatments so I did some research. Like you and your family there wasn't much. There wasn't even a mention of an asylum and I only knew about that because of the tracker. Otherwise I never would have known." As soon as I finished speaking Alex looked relieved and Elyse had a big smile on her face. I looked at Jazz with a puzzled look. He shrugged his shoulders. "Did I miss something?" I asked.

"No," Alex said, still smiling. "The reason I ran off before was because I was afraid to tell you about the asylum. I was afraid of how you would react."

"Why?"

"Because I've always tried to protect you. Even when we were kids. I'm so sorry for not taking you with me before. Can you ever forgive me?"

I stopped for a second as I tried to process his words. "So you're saying that I'm your sister? I'm May?"

He nodded, and for the first time since he and his little family arrived, I could see the slight resemblance between us. We both had the same dark brown hair, and the same eye shape. We might have had similar eye color before, but now we did for sure. He was taller than me, of course, but we also had the same slender fingers and body shape. I looked at Jazz, to see what he thought, and he looked just as shocked as I did. As I stared into Alex's eyes I had a flash of the two of us running through a patch of wildflowers. I had no clue if that was just me imagining things or if that actually happened but I didn't care. I finally had the answers I had craved for 88 years. Alex opened his arms and folded me into his embrace. Even though I didn't remember him, everything about him felt familiar and I didn't care that I had lost so many years with him. I had him now and we would make new memories together to make up for the ones that had been stolen from me and the time that had been stolen from both of us.


	17. Epilogue

Epilogue – One Year Later

_Alex POV_

"What're you up to?" I asked Elyse. She looked up from her phone that she had been engrossed in for the last several minutes.

"Do you remember George Bennett?"

I thought for a minute. "Wasn't he one of the FBI agents you worked with while you were there? Why?"

"He was killed by a drunk driver last week. The funeral is Monday."

I pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry. Did you want to go? We can. I know you looked up to him."

"I would've liked to but we can't. The funeral is in California."

"Oh. Well we can send something if you want."

"That'd be nice. I'm just going to call Dru first and see if they need anything," she said as she walked into the other room.

"Hey Alex, when did Elyse work for the FBI? I thought she was a paralegal for your firm," Carlisle asked.

"She was. I don't know if I mentioned this before but we were living in Oregon at the time she was turned. We moved to Seattle after she could control her thirst better because she hated being cooped up and if we had stayed, she would've had to hide since people thought she was dead. She also decided that she was going to go back to school and get that Accounting degree she really wanted, so she did that at night since she didn't need sleep anymore. After she got that, she was recruited by the FBI to work in their Bank Division as a Forensic Accountant. She worked for them for ten years."

"I would've worked for them longer but than we had that whole mess with Doug so I took an early retirement." She wrapped her arms around me and leaned into me. I nuzzled my face in her hair.

"How's Dru holding up?" I asked. She sighed.

"About like you'd expect. Or at least she's pretending to."

"How do you mean?" Carlisle asked.

"When your spouse is in any form of law enforcement there is a certain level of expectancy that the job could kill them. Dru had accepted that possibility when she married George. Unfortunately there was no way to assimilate the possibility of him being killed by a drunk driver into her life. She's trying to put on a brave face, but she's having a hard time," Elyse replied.

"I'm so glad we never have to worry about that," I said.

"Me too," Elyse replied as she hugged me tighter.

Hours later Elyse had gone hunting with Alice, Rose and Bella so I went in search of Esme. Last week I had asked for her help on a project and I wanted to see what she came up with. She looked up with a smile when I walked into her office.

"I was just going to come looking for you," she said. "Here's what I've got." She grabbed a rolled tube and took off the rubber band keeping it rolled up. She laid it flat on the table and placed some paper weights to keep it from rolling back up. "On the surface it's one level. But here is where I'll put in that hidden door you asked for. It will lead into an underground tunnel that will lead to her special room. I figure it will take maybe a month to get it all done. But Alex, how are you going to keep her in the dark?"

"I was thinking that we could go on a vacation. Elyse has always wanted to go to Boston and Salem. So I was going to surprise her with a spontaneous trip there. Plus there are other places in the surrounding area she's wanted to see. She'd never say it, but I think it's the one thing she hates about being a vampire. There are so many places she can't go because of the sun. Which is why I asked Alice what the weather was going to be like first. Since it's going to be rainy for the next couple of weeks we'll actually be able to go out during the day. I figure we could spend a week in each place. After that, I'll let her pick where we go. First though, I was going to take her to California to see Dru. Alice said there's a storm coming in off the coast so it's going to be stormy there for a few days. So we'll start there, then go to Boston."

"I think that is a fabulous idea. As soon as you guys leave we will get started on this. I hope you guys have fun."

"Oh we will," I said. As I was leaving I said, "Oh and Esme? Thank you for doing this."

She smiled as she said, "Anytime."

As I walked away I reminisced on the all that had happened in the last year. I got back the sister I thought was long dead, I got back my vampire family, and my kids found their soul mates. I never would have been able to peg that happening in a million years. Life is funny that way. You never know what could happen or how your life can change in the blink of an eye.

* * *

**A/N I just want to thank everyone that read this story. Elyse and Alex have been bouncing around in my head for almost ten years and I finally decided that it was time to get their story out there for others to enjoy it. There were some characters I never intended to create (ahem Doug ahem) but that actually made the story better. I also never intended it to be as long as it is. When I first started this it was only going to be 5 or 6 chapters. Clearly that didn't happen. And you know what? That's OK too. The longer length gave me a chance to flesh out my own characters better. If any of you are writers, never be afraid to share your story. Sometimes it's nice to fall into a fictional word and forget the cares of the everyday world. Never give up on your writing or anything else. Oh and just so you know, I am working on a sequel. I have several ideas that I just need to get on paper. So keep an eye out for that. Oh and if any of you are _Charmed_ fans, I am also working on a story for that so keep an eye out. **

**Ta Ta For Now - NeeNee91**


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